Resident Jody Lauer will spend nearly two years under house arrest after pleading guilty to burning down a building that belonged to Buddy’s Towing and Repairs.
Lauer, 44, from Moose Jaw, appeared in Moose Jaw Provincial Court recently and pleaded guilty to failing to comply with electronic monitoring requirements, possessing a weapon (a CO2 gun) for dangerous purposes, failing to appear in court, breaching existing no-contact conditions, a curfew breach, and arson.
Lauer received 18 months of a conditional sentence order or house arrest as part of a joint submission between the Crown and defence.
Besides keeping the peace and being of good behaviour, he must also live at an appointed residence, live under a 24-hour curfew for the first three months before switching to a curfew of 10 p.m. to 7 p.m., not possess or consume alcohol or marijuana or visit any place that sells such products, provide breath and urine samples to police when requested, not possess any torch, matches or incendiaries, and not possess weapons.
A resident called Moose Jaw police around 11:22 p.m. on March 5, 2022, to report a garage fire at Buddy’s Towing and Repairs near the corner of Third Avenue Northwest and River Street West, according to facts presented in court.
Police arrived and saw smoke billowing out of the windows and doors. They also discovered footprints leading from the alley through the parking lot to the garage and then out to River Street.
They photographed the footprints while they called in the K-9 unit to search for the suspect, Crown prosecutor Monique Paquin said. That search took officers over the Fourth Avenue Bridge. Meanwhile, the fire department extinguished the blaze and told police the fire looked suspicious.
Officers obtained video surveillance from area businesses, which showed a lone person in the area an hour before the fire started. They noticed that the person shared the same physical profile as Lauer and wore similar clothing.
“The individual (Lauer) was well-known to police,” said Paquin.
Police matched the footprints on the ground to Lauer since they had photographed his footwear when he was in custody earlier, she continued.
The K-9 unit led officers to an apartment on Lillooet Street West, where they knew Lauer’s girlfriend lived and where he frequently visited, Paquin added. Officers later learned he met her that night while on the bridge.
Tyne Hagey, Lauer’s Legal Aid lawyer, declined to comment about the sentencing when the Express asked.
