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Threatening shotgun video came before Elliot Lake pepper spray attack, court hears

The attack happened outside an apartment building
pepper spray in hand stock
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Riley Bentz pepper sprayed another man in the face during a February assault in the parking lot of an Elliot Lake apartment building, a judge heard Thursday.

The 20-year-old, along with his co-accused, were waiting outside the complex, after the complainant had received a threatening video on social media on Feb. 20.

The video showed four men, brandishing firearms, entering a room, assistant Crown Karen Pritchard said

One of the individuals, wearing a bandana, put the end of a shotgun towards the camera. The others were armed with a gun, a rifle and semi-automatic rifle.

The victim was assaulted shortly before 7 p.m. when he left the building and three males jumped out of a truck, Ontario Court Justice John Condon was told.

Bentz came from the rear, zapped the man with bear spray, and the victim then fled back into the building.

Both of his eyes required medical treatment, Pritchard said.

Bentz pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon (the spray) and handling a firearm (a pump-action shotgun) in a careless manner.

He also was convicted of assaulting his former girlfriend on June 5.

The prosecutor and defence lawyer Jennifer Tremblay-Hall jointly recommended that he be sentenced to 90 days jail, less credit for his pre-sentence custody, for the February offences, and further 15 days consecutive for the assault on the woman.

Tremblay-Hall said her client became involved "in this melee" because "the alleged victim" had earlier been threatening Bentz's girlfriend, sending her text messages and showing up at her door.

Bentz, the father of two young children, has an extreme learning disability and is remorseful, she said. 

"He understands he should not take actions into his own hands, that it's not appropriate."

Tremblay-Hall told the court that there were triable issues and the defence could have litigated the matter.

When he imposed the sentence, Condon called the joint position reasonable.

He gave Bentz credit for 47 days pre-sentence custody, which means the young man will serve a further 58 days in jail.

Once he does his time, Bentz will be on probation for 12 months with conditions that include no communication with his two victims or his co-accused.

He must undergo assessment and counselling for anger management and domestic violence, and provide a DNA sample for the national database.

Condon also prohibited him from possessing weapons for three years

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About the Author: Linda Richardson

Linda Richardson is a freelance journalist who has been covering Sault Ste. Marie's courts and other local news for more than 45 years.
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