A man has been found guilty of trying to set the Home Hardware in Kaslo on fire.
Alejandro Calderon stood trial in Nelson in June of this year for an incident that occurred on Dec. 5, 2022. In her decision Thursday, BC Supreme Court Justice Lindsay Lyster found Calderon guilty of two arson-related counts as well as breaking and entering and mischief over $5,000.
There was little dispute at trial over what happened. The defence admitted Calderon should be convicted of arson, but argued he was too drunk to form the specific intent to commit the crime. They also argued the Crown had failed to prove that he caused more than $5,000 damage.
The judge, however, found that while Calderon had been drinking that day, he exaggerated how much he could not remember. She also ruled that while specific evidence wasn’t provided on the amount of damage caused, it would have easily topped $5,000, not counting lost revenue during the month the hardware store was closed for cleaning and repairs.
Lyster wrote in her judgement that Calderon was angry about being refused service at the store, where he was a regular customer. He was told to come back the next day when the manager was there. Calderon was infuriated and called police, who came to speak to him. Later that morning, he bought alcohol and started drinking while walking home to Shutty Bench.
Later in the afternoon, he returned to Kaslo and was spotted holding a jerry can. He went to the hardware store around closing time, smashed the glass front door with a hatchet, stuffed a jerry can through the opening, and lit it on fire. Two employees and a woman still inside the store fled out the back.
Steve Jaksitz, who witnessed the incident, grabbed Calderon, holding him up against the wall, and kicking the hatchet out of his hands. The jerry can then exploded. Jaskitz ran across the street to the Kaslo Hotel for help. Two men, Jason Rempel and Ivo Gmur, grabbed fire extinguishers and took turns spraying the the flames because they had to hold their breath due to smoke coming out of the door. After a few minutes, the fire was out.
Calderon was arrested on Highway 31 a few kilometers north of Kaslo. While an RCMP officer smelled alcohol on Calderon, the judge concluded he wasn’t drunk at the time of the crime.
The judge issued a conditional stay on one count, based on a legal principle that when someone is found guilty of multiple offences based on the same circumstances, they should only be convicted of the most serious crime.
It wasn’t immediately clear when Calderon will face sentencing.
