Penticton man busted for siphoning gas

A Penticton man caught siphoning gas at the U-Haul compound had over $150 in his pocket and is spending the next month and a half in jail.

Penticton courthouse.

Penticton courthouse.

A Penticton man caught siphoning gas at the U-Haul compound had over $150 in his pocket and is spending the next month and a half in jail.

Kent Tough, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of breaking and entering during a court appearance originally scheduled for trial on Oct. 12 in Penticton Provincial Court.

On Jan. 14 just after midnight Penticton RCMP member noted a brown pick-up truck at the Co-op gas station on Main Street and spoke to Tough, who said he had run out of gas. The gas station was closed and Tough indicated he was going to grab a container and get gas at another location.

Nearly 45 minutes later, a witness contacted police after watching a male enter the U-Haul compound at Industrial Court through a pre-existing hole in the fence.

Police attended and observed the same truck near the U-Haul compound. Police observed a white hose coming out of the gas tank of a cube truck and leading into a jerrycan. Tough was located hiding under the cube truck and co-operated when he was told he was under arrest.

ā€œHe had money in his pocket at the time he was arrested and this was definitely a bad choice on his part,ā€ said Michael Patterson, Tough’s defence counsel, who argued for a suspended sentence for his client. ā€œIt is possible for Mr. Tough to remain law abiding and remain gainfully employed.ā€

Patterson was referencing a construction job Tough said he had waiting for him when he was released from custody.

Tough has five prior convictions for possession of stolen property and one prior for theft.

ā€œI would just like to apologize to the court. Looking back on it, I should have found another way. The gas station was closed. I should have walked, or got a cab or somehow found another way to a gas station that was open,ā€ Tough said.

Tough, who is serving a sentence for the dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and flight from police in June, was set to be released on Oct. 17, but is serving an extra 45 days in jail for the break-in. Tough faces a 12-month probation with a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the first six months after his release.

Ā