Man facing multiple charges, including arson and assault, awaits sentencing
By Delon Shurtz on November 3, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com A Lethbridge man facing 11 criminal charges, including arson and assault with a weapon, won’t know until later this year what his sentence will be.Kyle Glen Lowe pleaded guilty Monday in Lethbridge provincial court to the charges, as well as to charges of theft under $5,000, mischief causing damage, possession of stolen property under $5,000, and multiple counts of failure to comply with release conditions. His sentencing hearing was adjourned for a month, however, to allow time for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.
The arson charge stems from an incident last August when Lowe set fire to a rag and placed it by the fence around Spitz Stadium near Henderson Lake Park. A bystander stomped out the fire before it could cause any damage.
Lowe was arrested four days later, and during a search police found a knife and machete, even though previous release conditions prohibited him from possessing weapons.
Lowe was charged with two counts of assault with a weapon relating to two unrelated incidents earlier this year.
On Jan. 23 police received a 911 call, and recorded an assault in progress, in which a man can be heard yelling something about money being paid on time. Court was told Lowe had bitten a man’s thumb, struck him on the head with a rock, then threw the rock at a woman, hitting her in the face. Lowe also struck a vehicle driven by the woman. Both victims were cut during the assaults.
The second assault occurred on Aug. 13 when Lowe attacked an ex-girlfriend in her house. Lowe accused her of stealing from him, and punched and kicked her, and struck her with her purse, chipping one of her teeth.
When the woman tried to leave the house, he grabbed her, stopped her from leaving and continued the assault. She was finally able to flee and took refuge at the house of a neighbour — who heard the woman screaming — and waited for police. In the meantime, Lowe fled with his ex-girlfriend’s purse.
Police found Lowe the following day as he was riding a bike. He refused to stop, however, and fled across the Whoop-Up Drive footpath over the Oldman River. He then fled into the coulees but was caught near the river by officers and a police dog.
During an earlier incident at about 3:40 p.m. on May 30, 2020, Lowe threw a large rock or piece of concrete at a traffic camera on 5 Avenue and Mayor Magrath Drive South. Police found him later that night as he was weaving through traffic on his bicycle, and he took off when police told him to stop. He was arrested shortly afterward and found in possession of a folding knife, in contravention of weapons prohibition. He was also out past his curfew.
Lowe was also charged with additional counts of failure to comply with release conditions. The first relates to an incident on Aug. 26 of last year when Lowe was drinking alcohol and walking on the train tracks between Coleman and Blairmore. An RCMP officer detained him for trespassing, and learned Lowe was on conditions to not be within 100 metres of CP Rail property. At the time Lowe was also carrying a hatchet, despite orders he not possess weapons.
The second incident occurred Nov. 14, 2020 at about 11 p.m. on 12 Avenue North. Lowe was riding his bike when he was supposed to be obeying a curfew. He was searched again, and found in possession of two pocket knives. He was also riding a newer bicycle he claimed was his, and told police he bought it from a “buddy” for $100, even though he didn’t know his friend’s name. The bike was seized as stolen property.
About two weeks earlier, a man reported to Coaldale RCMP that his motorcycle had been stolen, and the same day Lethbridge police received a complaint about a stolen bicycle.
Several days later a Lethbridge police officer saw Lowe in the parking lot of a northside storage facility. There was also a motorcycle parked in front of a pickup truck owned by an employee of the storage facility, and a BMX bicycle on the ground, partially under the driver’s side of the truck. The motorcycle and the bicycle matched the descriptions of the those stolen earlier in the month.
The officer asked Lowe if he had seen anyone around the vehicles, and he said he hadn’t. There was a strong smell of gasoline, and there was gas on the ground and on the tank and seat of the motorcycle, and there was a juice container, which also smelled of gasoline, on the hood of the truck.
The owner of the truck told police Lowe told her he needed to get the motorcycle running, and that she had previously seen the motorbike in Lowe’s storage unit. She had also seen him riding the bicycle on Nov. 6.
Lowe was charged with another count of failing to comply with release conditions after police stopped him while he was riding a bicycle on 5 Avenue North just before midnight on Dec. 22, 2020. At the time he was on release conditions to obey a curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Lowe, who remains in custody, is scheduled to return to court Nov. 30 for sentencing. Follow @DShurtzHerald on Twitter 4
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