Man sentenced for fleeing police in stolen pickup truck

Leading police on a wild chase in a stolen pickup truck has earned a Prince George man a further year in jail.

Dale Al West, 36, was issued the term Monday in Prince George provincial court, after pleading guilty to dangerous driving, flight from police and possession of stolen property over $5,000.

In the process, he admitted to being behind the wheel of one of the vehicles when RCMP found themselves in pursuit of a trio of allegedly stolen pickup trucks on the morning of Sept. 19, 2015.

Suspecting West was involved in a series of vehicle thefts, RCMP had pinged his cellphone and discovered he was heading north on Highway 97 from Quesnel, the court heard.

Police, who were going south, subsequently observed three pickup trucks heading towards Prince George at high speeds on a road covered in ice and compact snow and in low visibility.

RCMP turned around and West's phone was pinged again. They determined he was on Willowcale Forest Service Road just south of the city, which was confirmed by a witness who called police to say he saw two of the trucks speeding along the stretch while the third was unaccounted for.

RCMP patrolled the road and, when the trucks were spotted parked next to each other, officers stationed themselves on either side and a spike belt was brought in. That was when the trucks took off back to the highway.

One was driven by Colby Selly John Johnson, 33, who leapt out of his truck while it was still moving and hopped into West's truck while it was also still moving. West's truck, which also had Brittany Jean Schram, 21,as a passenger and had a snowblower in the back, reached speeds of 130 km/h, officers estimated.

It had also suffered two flat tires from going over the spike belt, but West kept going. Back on the highway, he swerved into an oncoming lane and nearly collided with two snowplows before the truck rolled into the ditch and landed on its side.

West and Schram remained at the scene while Johnson attempted to flee the scene. With the help of a tracking dog, he was apprehended about two kilometres away, the court was told.

Agreeing to a joint submission from Crown and defence counsels, judge Randall Callan sentenced West to 18 months in jail less credit of six months for time served prior to sentencing.

West must also serve two years probation and is prohibited from driving for three years.

West has an extensive criminal record and was on probation at the time but also has tentative admission into a long-term treatment program upon his release.

Given a chance to speak, West said he hates the fact he keeps getting back into drugs and wants to move forward. West also apologized to the victims of his crime.

Charges against Johnson and Schram remain before the court. Johnson also remains in custody while Schram is out on bail.