Sentencing for an incident involving a loaded handgun at Sunnycrest Mall in February 2023 has resulted in no additional jail time for a former Gibsons resident.
Luca Dominique Nygren, 27, originally charged with 11 counts related to prohibited and unlicensed firearms and ammunition, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of firearms without a licence and/or registration before provincial court judge Tim Hinkson on July 11 in Sechelt.
Crown counsel Tim McKelvey told the court the RCMP was dispatched to the mall at about 5:15 p.m. on Feb. 18 of last year to “a verbal altercation” at the Mark’s retail location involving three males. A store staff member called the police and relayed that one individual was suspected of having a weapon on his person and another was described as having neck tattoos.
By the time the police arrived, the three had left the store, with Nygren and his co-accused, Mustafo Abassi, retreating to Nygren’s vehicle in the mall parking lot. Nygren (who has neck tattoos) and his vehicle were known to one of the attending officers, according to McKelvey. After a period of surveillance, the police ordered the two to exit the vehicle. In a pat down, a handgun with a bullet in the chamber was found on Abassi and he was arrested.
Nygren told the police that firearm was his property. Police did not arrest Nygren that evening, but on the following day, they conducted searches of his vehicle and his parents’ Gibsons home, where a number of other firearms (some registered, some not), ammunition and other weapons were located. While Nygren was not living at that residence, he, according to the Crown, had his parents' agreement to store those items in a locked wine cellar at their home.
Time served and delays impact sentence
Nygren was arrested for the firearms offences and held in custody from Feb. 19 until he was released with conditions on April 6, 2023. McKelvey noted the Crown experienced delays in receiving necessary reports and information from the RCMP. That led to the Crown's recommendation of a conditional sentence reached as a result of negotiations with the defence.
With credit for time spent in custody, a 16-month sentence to be served in the community was the joint recommendation accepted by the court. It includes prohibitions on possession of weapons and knives as well as a curfew. Nygren, who now resides in Vancouver, is barred from contact with Abassi, who is slated to go to trial in March of next year.
Nygren also agreed to forfeit his weapons that were seized by the RCMP. Following his sentence, he will be barred from owning firearms for a five-year period.
Hinkson called the outcome one “that will provide protection to the public." In the sentencing, he told Nygren “I don’t want to see you again.”
“Likewise,” was Nygren’s response to the judge.
