P.E.I. man sentenced for stealing motor vehicle, other offences

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A P.E.I. man who drove a stolen motorized vehicle over a highway spike belt whereas attempting to get away from police has been sentenced for these offences and a number of other others in provincial court docket in Charlottetown. 

Richard Joseph Leclair, 22, appeared by video on Could 5 from the Provincial Correctional Centre and pleaded responsible to a number of offences that occurred over a three-month interval – theft of a motorized vehicle, two counts of possession of stolen property (a tv and a motorized vehicle),  resisting arrest, two counts of flight from police and two counts of harmful operation of a motorized vehicle. 

The primary offence occurred on Dec. 20 when Leclair stole a tv valued at $220 and different objects from a person’s residence in Alberton. Leclair had been briefly staying on the residence.   

Then on Feb. 13, the West Prince RCMP responded to a grievance {that a} Hyundai Santa Fe was stolen from a residence in Charlottetown. Police positioned the automobile parked at a Tim Horton’s in O’Leary, mentioned White. A police officer approached the automobile and yelled “cease” when he noticed Leclair behind the wheel placing the gear shift into drive. Leclair sped away, drove via the close by roundabout in O’Leary and headed east on Route 2. Leclair took a aspect highway to Route 12 after which one other aspect highway headed again to Route 2, the place police have been ready with a spike belt positioned on the highway. 

Leclair drove over the spike belt and continued driving the broken automobile till it got here to a cease. When it did cease, Leclair obtained out and ran right into a discipline however was caught and arrested by police.   

The following offences occurred on Feb. 21, mentioned White. At round 2:34 p.m., Charlottetown police noticed a pink Chrysler 300 driving on Queen Road with the fallacious licence plate. Police adopted the automobile and on the Euston and Pownal road intersection, activated the overhead lights and tried to drag it over. Quite than cease for police, Leclair, the driving force, sped up. He turned onto All Souls Lane, then Rochford Road after which again onto Euston Road. White mentioned Leclair’s velocity reached 100 km/h whereas fleeing police. Police ended the pursuit out of concern for public security. A Charlottetown resident reported to police that it was Leclair who stole his automobile. Leclair was arrested just a few days later. 

Authorized-aid lawyer Alex Dalton mentioned her shopper’s drug and alcohol use have been elements within the offences. 

Leclair additionally gave statements to police and admitted to stealing the tv to assist his drug behavior. He additionally admitted to stealing the motorized vehicle on Feb. 13 that was positioned in O’Leary. Leclair mentioned that he was on crystal methamphetamine at the moment and stole the automobile after stepping into an argument with the proprietor. 

Chief Decide Jeff Lantz accepted a joint advice from White and Dalton and sentenced Leclair to 185 days in jail whole for all the offences. With 108 days of enhanced credit score for time already served in custody since his Feb. 24 arrest, Leclair had 77 days in jail left on the sentence. Leclair was additionally banned from driving for 18 months and ordered to pay $220 in restitution for the stolen tv and $1,000 to cowl the price of changing the stolen automobile’s tires and rims that have been broken by driving over the police spike belt. 

Terrence McEachern is a justice reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. @terry_mcn