Teen car thief charged again

Photo: Connor McCron

A Lake Country man snapped a photo of Orin Lucas after he caught the young man trying to break into his car.

A young prolific car thief has served his stint in jail after he was sentenced in May, but his legal troubles aren't over yet.

On May 15, 18-year-old Orin Lucas pleaded guilty to nine charges stemming from seven different incidents between November 2018 and March 2019. Several of the crimes involved stealing vehicles. After stealing a truck on the morning of Dec. 5, 2018, he crashed into a Mitsubishi SUV in Rutland, seriously injuring the young man driving the SUV.

After his arrest following the crash, Lucas was released on bail the following February, but his criminal behaviour didn't slow down until he was arrested again in the early hours of March 27, after a Lake Country resident took matters into his own hands.

Justice Andrew Tam sentenced Lucas to a total of nine months in May, giving him six months of enhanced credit for presentence time served, at a ratio of 1.5 times the 116 days of actual time served.

While that left him with three months on his sentence, Lucas was released from custody this week, a month early, after earning time for good behaviour while in custody. He now must abide by his probation conditions for 18 months.

Despite serving his time for the multiple charges, Lucas is now facing new allegations from his past.

In early June, while in custody, he was charged with breaking and entering at a home in West Kelowna on Dec. 5, after police discovered evidence inside the stolen truck he crashed in Rutland that linked him to a break-in earlier that morning.

Crown prosecutor Martin Nadon conceded the charge should have been laid before Lucas' sentencing in May. 

On Wednesday, Lucas was charged with additional charges of theft of a motor vehicle and possession of stolen property over $5,000 from an incident on March 21. It's unclear why these charges have just been laid.

Last week, Lucas was granted bail on the break and enter charge, allowing his release from custody this week. It's unclear how the additional charges will impact his release, and a court date has yet to be set on those charges.

During his sentencing in May, Lucas's lawyer Michael Stephenson told the court about Lucas' addiction issues with crystal methamphetamine and heroin. Stephenson said the 18 year old had been administered Naloxone to counteract overdose effects on “a number of occasions.”

While Stephenson said Lucas had been meeting regularly with an alcohol and drug counsellor while in custody at the Okanagan Correctional Centre, he says as an 18 year old, there's no options for residential treatment programs for him in the Okanagan.

“He is at a difficult age right now at 18 years old, in that he's not really a youth anymore, but not quite an adult either and it's limited his options as far as treatment centres,” Stephenson said in May.

“My understanding is that the Foundry here in town offers some outpatient services for young people between the ages of 12 and 25 who are struggling with drug addiction issues, so there are resources in the community that Mr. Lucas can access ... Once he turns 19, then he can attend adult residential treatment programs.”

Lucas is now under the supervision of his parents, and his father is acting as the surety for his bail on the new breaking and entering charge. His bail conditions include a curfew between 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. and he's scheduled to appear back in court on July 25.