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Kamloops  

Guilty plea in brazen daylight carjacking outside busy Kamloops gas station

Carjacker hopes to avoid jail

One of two men charged in connection with a brazen carjacking outside a busy Kamloops gas station is hoping to avoid jail time after pleading guilty.

Ryan Edward Roberts, 33, pleaded guilty Thursday in Kamloops provincial court to one count of robbery.

Police were called to the Co-op gas station, 884 Columbia St. West, just before 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 6, 2023, after a woman reported she was robbed of her car and phone at knifepoint.

Court has heard the woman went into the store to buy a drink, and when she returned she was threatened by a man brandishing a knife.

The woman turned over her keys and cellphone. Two men then drove away in her vehicle.

The entire incident was caught on video surveillance.

Asking for house arrest

Roberts and co-accused Kevin Gordon James, 39, were arrested nine minutes later after Mounties located the woman’s vehicle just off Highway 5 in the area of G&M Road.

In court on Thursday, defence lawyer Nick Jacob said Roberts was not the man brandishing the knife.

He asked Kamloops provincial court Judge Lorianna Bennett to order a pre-sentence report with a psychological component, which she did.

Jacob said he plans to seek a conditional sentence order — commonly referred to as house arrest. The Crown has not said what they will suggest at sentencing, but at a bail hearing in November, a prosecutor said both men are facing significant jail sentences.

Roberts has been free on bail since November, when he was released from jail to attend a live-in treatment facility.

The report is expected to take some time to complete. Lawyers will return to court on March 27 to set a date for Roberts’ sentencing.



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