A Provincial Court judge banned a Richmond man from driving for three years, ordered three years of probation and said he must pay $40,000 restitution to three auto dealerships for damage he committed.
On June 3, Judge Diana Vandor said Tong Sun, aka Heintz Sun, was a high-risk to reoffend and also sentenced him to 76 days in jail for assault with a weapon for stealing from a store and trying to run over an employee who was seeking to retrieve stolen goods. But she credited Sun with the 50 days already spent in custody at a rate of 1.5 per day, leaving one day owing which she counted as his appearance at the Richmond court sentencing hearing.
“Given that Mr. Sun comes before the court with no criminal record, and has pled guilty to these offences, but for Mr. Sun’s diminished moral culpability that flows from his mental illness, I would have sentenced him to prison for a considerable amount of time,” Vandor ruled.
Vandor said that Sun struck different cars at dealerships in three separate incidents over a period of two months and 25 days in 2020 — there were 82 days between the first incident and the second incident, and only three days between the second incident and the third incident. Sun’s third incident of mischief was on the same day as a dangerous driving offence, which involved protracted police chases through residential areas, speeding through red lights and against the flow of traffic.
“Mr. Sun was fleeing from police using his vehicle in a manner that is objectively dangerous and repeatedly endangering the public through his actions,” Vandor said. “Mr. Sun argues that, while these are serious offences, the fact that no one was injured reduces the gravity of the offence. I agree with that. Nevertheless, Mr. Sun’s driving was dangerous and put the public at risk, thereby making it a serious offence."
The judge said that driving is a privilege subject to certain limits in the interest of public safety, and sentences for dangerous driving and using a car as a weapon to assault another “must unambiguously express society's condemnation of the conduct and serve to warn like minded others that it will not be tolerated.”
Self-represented Sun had argued that a conviction would negatively impact his completion of law school and pursuit of business ventures. “Mr. Sun says that a criminal record would set him back a decade and would be, and I quote, essentially a death sentence to my life, end quote,” Vandor said.
Though she acknowledged Sun’s mental illness, the judge ruled it did not reduce his blameworthiness because the medical evidence did not establish that mental health caused commission of the offences or contributed to the illegal conduct.
“Based on the evidence before me, I am unable to determine the overall role Mr. Sun's mental illness played in the commission of any of the offences,” she said.
Vandor said that the likelihood of Sun reoffending and committing similar offences depends on whether he takes medication and follows treatment prescribed by a psychiatrist. She said that Sun had declined psychiatric treatment, including medication, and resisted court-ordered analysis.
“Mr. Sun, throughout his admission to the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, took a stance of wanting to defend himself against the charges, claiming that either they did not pertain to him or the charges were frivolous.”
The judge banned Sun from possessing weapons for 10 years, ordered him to provide a DNA sample and pay a $1,000 fine. Vandor also gave him three years to pay $20,700.80 to the court, to be forwarded to Richmond Acura, $10,419.29 for Dueck Richmond and $8,815.64 for Dueck GM in Vancouver.
In March, a civil judge in B.C. Supreme Court awarded Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Canada Corp. more than $20,000 in a countersuit against Sun and his father, Jinzhong Sun.
The father and son unsuccessfully sued for breach of lease, defamation and loss of a gold watch and pen after their Mercedes Metris passenger van was confiscated and their lease cancelled in 2020.
Vancouver Police seized the van from Tong Sun after one of his crime sprees. It was originally leased for the father and son’s short-term rentals and furniture importing business.
The Suns did not pay the more than $21,000 that was owing on the lease, so Mercedes sold the vehicle to an auction house.
