Osoyoos man sentenced for shooting at parked police car, pharmacy arson

A South Okanagan man who shot a parked police car, lit his own truck on fire and then did the same to the contents of an area pharmacy has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.

According to a court decision published on Thursday, it was around 1 a.m., on May 15, 2021, when the crime spree began.

It seemingly started when RCMP visited the home of Steve Marlo Gallagher, 31,  on the Osoyoos Reserve, to investigate a complaint about gunshots.

“Gallagher provided a tour of his house to the officers, but became agitated around 2 a.m., at which point the officers left,” Justice David Crerar said in the decision.

“Soon afterward, the officers saw several vehicles leaving the Gallagher residence at high speeds but opted not to pursue.”

The officers returned to the Osoyoos RCMP detachment, but it was just before 4 a.m., at the end of their shift, when they heard gunfire outside the detachment and someone shooting the bumper of a police car.

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“They saw a distinctive green truck owned by Gallagher driving away towards the centre of Oliver,” Crerar said.

Crerar said that surveillance video then shows Gallagher parking the truck in Triangle Park, in the centre of Oliver, and soon after lights the truck on fire.

“He then walks slowly from the truck towards the (Remedys RX) Pharmacy, carrying a large dark case,” Crerar wrote.

“He walks past the pharmacy and stashes the case in the woods at the side of the parking lot. He then returns to the pharmacy and smashes in the glass front door.”

Once inside, Gallagher lights several sundresses on fire.

“A few seconds later he leaves the pharmacy, during which exit he provides a clear view of his face on the security camera, which proved to be damning evidence at trial,” Crerar said.

“He then disappears into the trees. The pharmacy is soon choked in haze and floating embers. A few minutes later, firefighters arrive to fight the blaze. While the inventory and store were largely destroyed, and neighbouring premises also harmed, the building did not suffer structural damage.”

Gallagher has four children, aged between two and nine years, by two different women.

According to a Gladue Report created ahead of sentencing, Gallagher had a relatively supportive and happy childhood on the Osoyoos Reserve, though when he was 17, he dropped out of school, and was accused of arson by school authorities.

In 2013, by the time he was 20 years old, he was found guilty of weapons charges and placed on a nine-month probation order, with a 10-year weapons prohibition.

He was then found guilty of five breaches of probation orders: not being home at the designated time, and failing to provide a letter from his probation officer to go to work.

Gallagher, however, blames much of his current troubles on three trauma incidents in the years and months before the arson.

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“In 2020, his girlfriend died of a drug overdose, a month after their child was born,” Crerar said.

“That same year, the tenant of his basement suite was shot; the man died in  Gallagher’s arms. Police investigated Gallagher for both of these deaths; Gallagher states that this suspicion added to his trauma. In 2021, Mr. Gallagher’s older brother was killed in a car accident;  Gallagher was first on the accident scene.”

When his brother died in 2021, he started taking MDMA and became addicted. Since the start of his pre-trial custody in July 2022, he has not consumed drugs or alcohol.

Crerar pointed out that arson can have a sentence as heavy as 14 years, and  Gallagher’s moral culpability lies towards the upper end of the arsonist scale.

“Gallagher’s crime most resembles a vengeance-based arson, triggered by the police visit and (his)  long-simmering resentment of authority figures,” Crerar said.

“That his vengeance is directed towards an innocent and unrelated party — the pharmacy and the neighbouring premises — further increases his moral culpability. In contrast to many of the arson cases, the arson was not sparked by mental illness or specific substance abuse. Nor was it a spontaneous or impulsive action.”

Rather, Crerar said, the arson was calculated and deliberate, and executed over time, through multiple steps, with many points at which he could have changed his mind.

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“Gallagher selected an expendable vehicle, made arrangements with an associate or associates for a post-arson pick-up, drove into Oliver, shot up the police car, parked and ignited the truck, walked slowly towards the pharmacy, stashed the case, walked back to the pharmacy, smashed the glass door, and lit the fire,” Crerar said.

“He then calmly exited the pharmacy, after stealing a drink, and was picked up by an associate in a car later seen shooting off guns and heading, in all probability, back to  Gallagher’s home.”

The fire put the lives of emergency responders at risk and also the livelihoods of businesses affected by the fire.

“The effect on the innocent victims of the arson was profound. The pharmacy owner provided a community impact statement. The pharmacy was wholly gutted inside, with all inventory destroyed,” Crerar wrote.

“The shock inflicted by the senseless violence of the fire and year-long renovations levied an emotional toll on the owner, staff, and customers.”

The fire inflicted $428,761 in damage on the building alone.

Losses of revenue, increased insurance costs, deductible expenses, and expenses not covered by insurance left the pharmacy out of pocket by roughly $100,000. The neighbouring physiotherapy business lost $43,673 worth of inventory and equipment.

While there are plenty of aggravating factors in the case, Crerar said in his 14 months of pre-trial detention, Gallagher has exhibited his commitment towards the straight and narrow path.

Gallagher has obtained his high school diploma. He has completed 22 courses and he voluntarily undertook and completed these courses, ordinarily taken post-conviction as a condition of sentencing, while he was still in remand custody, pre-conviction.

While in custody he has also served as a representative of his unit, has volunteered for various jobs, and has enjoyed a generally good record, and all of this is something that should be praised, Crerar said.

While he was sentenced to three years and nine months, he’s entitled to a credit of a total of 641 days for the time he already spent in custody based on this offence, meaning the actual sentence is two years less a day.

“As urged by your counsel, you must also comply with the terms of a probation order upon release,” Crerar said.

“Given the seriousness of the offence, and the fact that the sentence is predicated significantly on your assurances to the court that you will lead a responsible life, without resorting to violence or crime, the appropriate probation period is the maximum: three years.”