An Alberta man who engaged in a crime spree in 2023 stretching from Penticton to West Kelowna will spend the next two years under house arrest. 

Kyle Jordan, 31, was sentenced in Penticton Provincial Court on July 15, after pleading guilty to multiple charges stemming from the string of crime on March 23, 2023. 

Police initially became involved after receiving a report that a truck had been stolen near Creston and dumped near Osoyoos. Then, another vehicle was stolen in Osoyoos. 

Later that morning, Jordan and his partner, Amanda Ferguson, were caught breaking into a vacant home up Carmi in Penticton when the home-owner spotted them on his security system. 

The homeowner called the contractor who had been doing work on the house, and asked him to drive up and check it out. After arriving at the house, the contractor and a coworker blocked Jordan and Ferguson's vehicle in the driveway.

After the pair got out of their vehicle, which has since been identified as being stolen, Ferguson aimed a pellet gun at the contractor, while Jordan grabbed a camshaft.

As the altercation continued the couple were informed that the police had been called and proceeded to flee the scene. 

The pair then stole a neighbour's vehicle and drove at high speed away from the site of the break-and-enter.

Jordan and Ferguson drove to West Kelowna where they ended up hitting a police vehicle which halted their escape and ended the string of crimes. No one was injured in the collision and the pair were arrested at the scene. 

The judge and Crown noted that the sentencing would have been very different if anyone had been injured. That fact, along with the transformation Jordan has made of his life contributed to the judge's decision.

"I'm sorry for what I did," said Jordan. "I remember hearing the evidence at prelim and thinking things could have gone so bad in the driveway."

Since being arrested, Jordan has been released on bail where he has checked himself into a recovery program in the Lower Mainland.

In addition to undertaking multiple programs both while in and out of custody, Jordan has found steady and regular employment.

Crown Prosecutor Ann Lerchs proposed a joint-submission for a conditional sentence with Jordan's defence, Nelson Selamaj, and noted that her opinion had changed greatly since the charges were first sworn in. 

"I would not have imagined a year ago that I would be recommending this today," said Lerchs. "In sentencing principles, we talk about denunciation, about deterrence, but we also talk about rehabilitation because in my position, the actual underlying principle of all sentencing is protection of the public,

"The way we protect the public is through rehabilitation."

Crown noted that Jordan had 45 prior convictions including many breaches of court orders, cycling him in and out of jail for most of his adult life, but that since his 2023 arrest he had no further breaches. 

The court heard that Jordan is Indigenous with a troubled childhood, and was born with Fetal-Alcohol Syndrome and ADHD. He has also struggled with addiction for a large portion of his life, resulting in criminal acts that he cannot fully remember. Jordan said he is unable to recall the events that transpired on March 31, 2023 as he was under the influence of illicit substances on the day of the crime spree. 

The judge presiding over the case agreed with the joint submission. Under the terms of the conditional sentence, Jordan will be under 24-7 house arrest for two years, except for when he is at work. 

"The reports are well written and they describe an individual who literally has been in custody for most of his adult life and was absolutely not set up for success with the challenges he had growing up," said the judge. "But in the last year, Mr Jordan has turned his life around. As Ms. Lerchs says, that is how the public is going to be protected."

After the two year conditional sentence is completed, Jordan will be under a two-year probation order. 

Ferguson was sentenced in June in Supreme Court to a conditional sentence as well, however it was stated she did not have the strict house arrest condition as she did not have the extensive criminal record that Jordan has.