Angus Heathen and Melissa McCallum appeared Wednesday morning at Prince Albert Provincial Court. (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Court proceedings

Armed robbery on Highway 55 results in sentences of 3 years and 18 months

Dec 3, 2025 | 2:10 PM

A mother and son on the highway for a driving lesson were threatened with a gun and forced to abandon their vehicle.

Those brazen details were read in a Prince Albert courtroom Wednesday morning.

Angus Heathen who accepted responsibility for assault with a weapon, received a three-year sentence. Melissa McCallum who was a passenger in a vehicle knowing there was a gun present, received 18 months.

According to facts read by Crown Prosecutor Kristen Hubbard, Heathen and Bruno Bear had initially broken into George’s Service and Welding and stole a cash register as well as a Volkswagen Atlas.

Down the road, a mother and son, out for a driving lesson, had parked on the side of the road.

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The Atlas pulled up behind them and the occupants then walked up to the other vehicle.

After McCallum asked for gas money, Heathen pulled out a gun, pointed it at the young male driver and threatened to shoot.

The mother and son were then forced to abandon the vehicle which was found later that day in the Nipawin area.

Heathen’s and McCallum’s DNA were found inside the vehicle and later during a police line up, both were identified by the victims.

There were no physical injuries reported and the vehicle was written off.

Heathen’s lawyer Chris Koban said the 34-year-old originally from Island Lake First Nation had grown up in a good home but after graduating high school became addicted to alcohol, which progressed to cocaine and meth.

Heathen, who was supported in the courtroom by a family member, was according to Koban focused on sobriety and one day aspired to open his own business as a butcher.

McCallum, 20, is from Pinehouse Lake and had no criminal record.

When offered the opportunity in court to comment, both McCallum and Heathen declined.

The victims and their family members were also present in the courtroom. Their identities are protected by a publication ban.

In addition to the gun charge, Heathen also entered a guilty plea for the break-and-enter that occurred at the service station. The six month sentence will run concurrently to the longer sentence.

Also charged for the robbery was Bruno Bear, who like Heathen, received a three-year sentence. His matters were dealt with last February.

Regardless of the outcome and the remand credit, both Heathen and McCallum remain in custody and have outstanding charges related to another armed robbery that occurred on Oct. 24, 2024.

A 66-year-old man working at a construction site north of Prince Albert was shot and left for dead. His vehicle was located after it was involved in a crash with heavy equipment.

The preliminary inquiry hearing has been scheduled for January.

Another suspect, Dallas Fulton, has not yet been located.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell