London man gets his wish for prison term after mini-crime spree

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By the time London police found William Pieszchala hiding under a bed in a Base Line Road apartment, he had left a long trail of fresh crimes.

A drone, pepper balls and a canine unit were needed to arrest him after his mini-crime spree late last year.

Tuesday, Pieszchala, 34, of London pleaded guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice to eight charges for a series of misadventures at the end 2023 that included gun, drug, driving, assault and resisting arrest counts.

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His sentence of three years, one month and 15 days – a joint submission from the Crown and the defence – sent him to a federal prison, which defence lawyer Michael Barry said Pieszchala wanted so he can access the programming. With time served, he has just more than two years left.

An agreed statement of facts was presented to Justice Brian White by assistant Crown attorney Leren Ducharme, which laid out the many crimes committed during a short time.

On Oct. 27, 2023, a white Ford Edge SUV was stolen from a home in Strathroy-Caradoc. A month later, on Nov. 24, 2023, at about noon, Pieszchala and another man drove the stolen vehicle into the Canadian Tire parking lot on Wonderland Road South.

Ducharme noted Pieszchala was under a lifetime driving prohibition for impaired driving.

A witness saw the SUV and another vehicle and called police because of concerns about a woman moving between the vehicles. An officer noticed the SUV and its licence plates didn’t match. He approached Pieszchala as he was getting into the driver’s seat.

Ducharme said Pieszchala “drove away at a high rate of speed, nearly striking (the officer).”

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The vehicle headed to Wonderland Road. Meanwhile, a witness who had almost been hit by the fleeing vehicle reported seeing a man running into a nearby Booster Juice store.

Staff at the store told police a man had locked himself in the washroom. He was Pieszchala’s passenger, and he came out after police knocked on the door.

The vehicle was found on Base Line Road West and there was evidence it had been damaged in some sort of collision. Pieszchala couldn’t be found and police put out a warrant for his arrest for dangerous driving and driving while prohibited.

A month later, on Dec. 21, 2023, police received information that Pieszchala had a firearm. They were able to get a warrant for Pieszchala’s residence, a Commissioners Road apartment unit.

Police found a woman there, but no Pieszchala. Officers found two rifles and two shotguns under the couch in the living room and another shotgun in the bedroom under a pile of clothing.

Twenty-three rounds of ammunition were found, three on the TV stand, six in a black pouch in a desk drawer and 16 more in white grocery bag beside the couch. Two crossbows, one on the bed and one on the dining table, were located.

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All the guns were classified as non-restricted and were functional. Pieszchala has never been licensed to have firearms.

Ducharme said police also found someone’s stolen passport and bank cards. There was evidence of drug use, including a white powdery substance in a jar, multiple pipes and two digital scales, and a bag with an unknown brown substance.

On Dec. 29, 2023, Ducharme said Pieszchala and a friend were at a Base Line Road apartment with several others doing recreational drugs. Pieszchala’s friend wanted to leave, but Pieszchala said the friend couldn’t, and pulled up his shirt to show what appeared to be a black handgun tucked in his waistband. He later told the friend it was a BB gun.

Later, when the friend tried to leave again, Pieszchala grabbed, pushed and kicked the friend, and took away a cellphone. The next day, after retrieving the phone, Pieszchala’s friend sent “an SOS text” to a family member, who called police, informing them Pieszchala was at the address.

Officers descended on the unit, knocked on the door and identified themselves.

Some occupants came out and confirmed Pieszchala and another wanted man were still in the unit. The emergency response team attempted to negotiate with the men by phone, and when they didn’t come out, sent in a drone that showed one man was hiding in the bathtub and Pieszchala hiding under a bed.

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The police sent in pepper balls, then went into the unit with the help of a canine unit. When Pieszchala was found, he refused to show his hands and resisted arrest. He was handcuffed after “a brief struggle.”

Once Pieszchala made a court appearance on Dec. 31, 2023, he was remanded to the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre, where he was placed in a special unit because there were suspicions he had concealed drugs in his body. On Jan. 5, 2023, while he was under closed circuit surveillance, officers saw him fidgeting around the toilet bowl. A plastic bag with one gram of fentanyl was retrieved.

Pieszchala has a considerable criminal record dating back to 2011, including a two-year sentence for bank robbery where he claimed to have a bomb that sent him to federal prison.

Barry said this was the first time Pieszchala has been convicted of weapons offences. He has other driving convictions and substance abuse issues. He was hiding at the apartment because he was using drugs and in his panic ingested the fentanyl to hide it, his lawyer said. He had no intention of distributing it as contraband after his arrest.

He always intended to plead guilty and was “smart enough to know that at the federal level, he can get the best education” for his addiction issues, Barry said.

White accepted the joint sentencing submission, noting Pieszchala’s “continual spree of offending” but also that he “takes responsibility for what are very serious offences.”

jsims@postmedia.com

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