By Dale Boyd

A man who pretended to need help with a flat bike tire before brazenly stealing a truck in Oliver has been sentenced to time served in jail after spending roughly eight months in custody. 

Christopher Lawrence Kolody, 37, pleaded guilty to single counts of theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and obstructing a peace officer on March 9 in provincial court in Penticton. 

On July 10, 2019 Kolody approached a man on Road 19 in Oliver saying he needed assistance with a flat bike tire. 

“The complainant operated a winery. He had never met Mr. Kolody before, but thought he should try to help him,”  said Crown counsel John Swanson. “He was going to make arrangements to have the flat bicycle tire repaired. It was at that time Mr. Kolody ran to the truck and fled, obviously stealing the truck.” 

Kolody headed northbound towards downtown Oliver where police caught up with him. 

After receiving a report of the stolen vehicle, an RCMP officer spotted the black Dodge Ram driving southbound on Main Street. 

Kolody did not stop for the RCMP and fled “at a high rate of speed,” Swanson said. 

The stolen vehicle made an illegal pass into oncoming traffic before running a red light at the intersection of Main Street and Similkameen Avenue. 

The officer “noted in particular that when the vehicle ran the red light, despite the police trying to stop him, he almost caused an accident with another vehicle that was legally proceeding through the intersection,” Swanson said. 

Police saw Kolody flee from the vehicle. He was eventually located hiding in bushes behind the Chevron gas station. 

Kolody provided a false name to police, who traced the name back to a man who had his vehicle broken into and ID stolen in Grand Prairie, AB in April 2019.

Court heard Kolody was in the throes of a heroin and meth addiction during the incident. He has been in custody since July 10, 2019, for a total of 244 days, or 366 days with pre-trial custody credit. 

Kolody also received a 270-day conditional sentence for domestic assault charges out of Grand Prairie in June 2019, which he will serve at a recovery house in Penticton. Kolody verbally threatened a woman he was in a relationship with in Alberta and at one point threatened her with a blowtorch. 

Kolody was also given a three-year driving prohibition.