Machete assault lands city man intermittent jail sentence

By Lethbridge Herald on July 19, 2023.

Delon Shurtz
LETHBRIDGE HERALD

A Lethbridge man who cut another man’s hand with a machete because he was making too much noise, will be allowed to serve a jail sentence on weekends.

Tyler Daniel Letkeman pleaded guilty Monday in Lethbridge court of justice to one count of assault with a weapon and was handed a 90-day intermittent sentence.

Court was told police were called to an assault Oct. 15, 2022 at a southside residence where two men resided in a basement suite and one of them was preparing to move out.

Letkeman, who lives upstairs, entered the basement suite and complained the two men were making too much noise and told them to be quiet. He also waived a machete at one of the men and cut him on the hand, which required six stitches.

“After the victim was cut on the hand, he and his friend pushed the accused out of the basement suite and he ran away,” said Crown Prosecutor Dawn Janecke. “

He was arrested shortly afterward a short distance from the residence.

In addition to his 90-day sentence, Letkeman, 27, was also placed on probation for one year, during which he is not to have any contact with the two men and not possess any weapons. He must receive psychiatric and psychological counselling and any other counselling as directed by his probation officer, submit a sample of his DNA for the National DNA Data Base, and pay a $100 victim fine surcharge.

Lethbridge lawyer Vincent Guinan said his client understands how serious the charge is, and if not for his guilty plea could have faced a more serious consequence.

“He’s very sorry about this,” Guinan said. “This was a terrible mistake, he understands it could have been worse.”

Guinan said his client will benefit from probation and counselling, “which is, frankly, what you need if you think it’s appropriate to have a machete when somebody’s being loud while they’re moving out.”

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