Probation for woman who startled Kamloops family after breaking into their home, stealing $50

Photo: KTW file

An intruder was high on speed and fentanyl when she startled a Kamloops family after breaking into their home, scattering medication and pocketing $50 before curling up and hiding in a bathroom cabinet.

Samantha Lewis, 35, was sentenced in Kamloops provincial court on Thursday after earlier pleading guilty to one count of break and enter to commit an indictable offence.

Court heard a family — dad, mom and grown son — was inside their home in the 1600-block of Valleyview Drive on Aug. 3, 2023, when they noticed something amiss.

Crown prosecutor Leah Winters said it started when the son heard loud noises coming from outside his bedroom.

“When the family began to investigate, they discovered that belongings and medications were strewn about in the basement and they noticed their basement exterior door was wide open,” she said.

After the family spotted movement in a basement bathroom, they closed the door and called police.

Winters said Mounties arrived to find the door still closed. The bathroom light was on and no one was responding to the officers’ verbal calls.

When they opened the door, the room was empty. An officer then opened a cabinet beneath the bathroom sink and found Lewis curled up inside.

Winters said Lewis kicked a Mountie “several times” while being arrested, and provided officers with two fake names.

The son later noticed $50 missing from his wallet.

Remorseful for 'turmoil'

Defence lawyer Jamie Gagnon said Lewis was not in a good place at the time of the break-in.

“She was admittedly using speed and fentanyl at the time of the offence,” she said. "She advises that it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to enter the residence and she was not in a good state of mind.”

Gagnon said Lewis is clean and sober, living in a treatment facility in the Okanagan.

“Ms. Lewis is doing quite well now and she is looking forward to sobriety,” she said.

“She is remorseful for her actions and she is assuming full responsibility for the damage and turmoil that she caused for the victims.”

Kamloops provincial court Judge Ray Phillips went along with a joint submission for an 18-month period of probation, with orders requiring Lewis abstain from drugs and alcohol and stay away from the home where the burglary took place.

Winters said she would have sought house arrest but for Lewis’ success in treatment.

In addition to the probation, Lewis was also ordered to submit a sample of her DNA to a national criminal database.