A Hells Angel punched a man's face in to extract a confession from his terrified son, court heard Tuesday.
Joseph Bruce Skreptak was infuriated that the teenager stole his jewelry and showed up at the boy's tiny home late one night in November 2010 with four of his cronies. The teen's father answered the door and told Skreptak to get lost, prompting him to slug him so hard he fell back onto his bed, said Crown counsel Catherine Fedder.
Skreptak entered the room with one of his associates. The boy sat up in the other bed and denied any involvement in the theft. Skreptak continued the beating, punching the father John Jenson at least four more times in 15 minutes.
The assault fractured the facial bones above and below his left eye, caving in that side of his face. He needed reconstructive surgery and metal plates. He now has double vision and trouble moving his left eye.
Skreptak, who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, was trying to intimidate the boy by beating his father and using his membership in the notorious gang as a threat, Fedder said.
"Skreptak used his position with that gang for intimidation purposes," she said at the sentencing hearing. "He attended the victim's residence at night with four associates to intimidate or cause harm."
The defence see it differently. Jenson was being so "lippy," Skreptak lost his cool and attacked him, said his lawyer Brian Jackson. Skreptak, a founding member of the Kelowna HA, wasn't wearing his gang colours and Jenson never knew three other men were nearby.
"He admits he approached it the wrong way. He's remorseful and embarrassed by it," the lawyer said. "He got so frustrated. The kids wouldn't fess up and he did what he did. It's not an excuse, but in some ways it's understandable."
The misadventure began two months earlier. Skreptak's stepson Anthony invited Jenson's son and another boy to his lakefront mansion on McTavish Avenue in Kelowna. After one visit, Skreptak accused the pair of stealing $10,000 worth of jewelry, including a watch, rings and earrings and two money bags.
They sold much of it for marijuana. The stepson went on Facebook to get pictures of the 16-year-olds, which Skreptak took around to pawn shops. One pawnbroker remembered the boys trying to sell the inscripted Movado watch and he turned them down.
Skreptak, 47, confronted one of the boys on Nov. 1, 2010. The teen denied stealing anything and pointed to Jenson's son. Skreptak ordered the boy to direct him to the Jenson house on Froelich Road. As the teen rode in one of the vehicles, one of the men asked him if he knew who they were. He said they were Hells Angels, said Fedder.
Once police found out about the beating, they put the boys into witness-protection. They've had to leave their families and community for their own safety, Fedder said.
Skreptak used his clout with the Hells Angels to bully the teenagers and inflicted "extreme violence" on a defenceless man to get the information he wanted from them, she said.
"Rather than go to police to report the theft of personal property worth thousands of dollars, Skreptak chose to take matters into his own hands and retrieve his property using intimidation and violence."
Fedder asked for a three-year prison term. Jackson suggested less than two years. He said Skreptak should get extra credit for the 111 days he's spent in pre-trial custody and the 21 months he spent on bail because he had to live at his house around the clock except for six hours on Saturdays.
BC Supreme Court Justice Allan Betton reserved his decision.