Guilty As Charged

Pair plead guilty to attacking Good Samaritan in Merritt.

Monday in BC Supreme Court in Kamloops, Cory Battilana and Samantha Vleeming both pleaded guilty to attempted robbery charges.

The charges stem from a incident back on November 25th, 2015, when the pair assaulted a 69-year-old man, who had picked them up after they crashed their vehicle into the median along Hwy 97C while heading towards Merritt.

The attempted robbery took place along Lindley Creek Rd, where after leading the man down the rural road, the couple attempted to carjack him.

They were ultimately unsuccessful, and were later tracked to the Road Runner Motel, where a roughly 4-hour stand off with Merritt RCMP occurred, before officers were able to take both into custody without incident.

Battalana, in custody since the incident, was sentenced to an additional two years in prison, while Vleeming, having already served 7 months before being granted bail in June, was sentenced to time served.