A man has been sentenced to nine months in jail for a trio of driving offences, including one dangerous driving charge stemming from a June 5 incident this year.
Crown prosecutor Kurt Froelich told the court that accused Alan Ronald Greenlees had an extensive history of driving offences. He appeared before the court again Wednesday to enter a guilty plea on two counts of driving while disqualified, once on April 1 in Penticton and once on May 1 in Kelowna.
In both of those incidents, police had observed him driving despite a court-ordered prohibition.
On June 5, however, as police surveilled his vehicle, watching him enter at a convenience store on Main Street and Eckhardt in Penticton, he sped off in reverse when approached by officers. Greenlees backed up at an excessive speed on the Eckhardt Avenue sidewalk and onto the street “narrowly missing a three-foot high cement retaining wall.”
“Then (he) proceeded onto Eckhardt Avenue eastbound, crossing over both the eastbound and westbound lane. The vehicle, then, spun its tires and drove away ata high rate of speed westbound on Eckhardt Avenue. There were a number of pedestrians in the vicinity of where this had happened,” Froelich said.
“This location, the convenience store on Main Street, is noted to be a busy location next to the Penticton high school where members of the public are certainly expected to be and is generally considered a busy location.”
Police later spotted Greenlees fleeing on foot on Calgary Avenue, where he ran into a backyard. Following him on foot, police arrested Greenlees.
Noting his extensive history with driving offences and the busy location next to a high school as aggravating factors, Froelich acknowledged the extraordinarily early guilty plea as a mitigating factor in sentencing.
Defence counsel Ben Lynskey added that Greenlees, a contract worker, had difficulties with his driving prohibition, as he was unable to work without a car or a crew where another was driving.
He added that Greenlees has a child and grandchild whom he has been making efforts to stay connected with.
As a joint submission, Crown and defence asked for three months total for both driving while disqualified charges and another six months for the dangerous driving charge.
Judge Cathie Heinrichs accepted that submission, sentencing Greenlees to a total of nine months, minus credit for 44 days for time served.