WESTLOCK – A homeless man was convicted of assault with a weapon after an incident where he waved a stick in the air following a confrontation with a man who had blown snow in his face.
James Gregory West is now at risk of jail time following a trial in Westlock Court of Justice on March 5.
Representing himself, West told the court, “I don’t know where the assault charge comes from. It doesn’t make sense to me. None of this does.”
Jordan Peever testified that he was about five feet away when the backpack snow blower he was using to clear a sidewalk at Pembina Lodge blew snow in West’s face. Peever admitted that he didn’t immediately stop.
West became upset and called Peever a “expletive goof.” Peever testified that West then raised a wooden stick in the air at about a 90-degree angle, leading him to feel afraid.
West, in his defence, testified that it was a cold morning and that he was simply pushing the grocery cart with all his belongings to A&W for coffee when the snow blower incident occurred. He denied any intent to harm Peever and described the encounter as a minor inconvenience.
“Everything started early in the morning. It’s always cold in the morning. I try to go for coffee early. Nothing ever happened. He put snow in my face and I called him a [expletive] goof. He sprayed me with snow. Anybody would be mad. I kept going to A and W to have my coffee and never thought anything of it again until two officers grabbed me at the Giant Tiger bin,” West testified.
Const. Logan Simpson of the Westlock RCMP testified that he responded right away to the Husky gas station when Peever called 911.
After getting a description of the homeless man pushing a cart, Simpson said he suspected it was James West. He said since he was posted to Westlock he had dealt with West approximately 15 times and knew him.
“I knew he was homeless and pushed a cart. He personally called me a [expletive] goof several times. He was the only one around town that used that language.”
West admitted to having a wooden stick, which he said was simply a handle from a hammer, without the hammer, he used to hold up his grocery bags inside his cart.
During cross-examination, Crown prosecutor Eric Mosley said to West, “You were mad at him because he blew you with snow.”
During the trial West mostly sat with his head hung down while holding a huge bundle of crumbled up paper close to his chest.
"I'm trying to thaw them," West told the court. "Because it's evidence on everybody and their aliases.
Justice Carrie-Anne Downey found West guilty saying the fact that Peever felt West could use the stick against him and displayed it in a “threatening manner” in the air was sufficient to find him guilty of assault with a weapon.
On the same day of the stick incident, RCMP responded to a call from the Dollar Store in the afternoon about an aggressive male in the store, which Simpson said was West.
The Crown said West is at risk of a jail sentence, so the court ordered a pre-sentence report. He also said he had concerns about West's mental health.
West is expected to be sentenced on April 24.
In November 2024, Town and Country Today featured West in an article titled “Voice from the Streets: Homeless Man Longs for a Home,” where he shared the emotional toll of life on the streets and his desire for stability, family, and friendship.
