WESTLOCK – An Edmonton woman convicted last December of repeatedly ramming an RCMP cruiser that sparked a high-speed chase from Fawcett to Athabasca County in July 2019 will spend the next two-plus years in a federal prison.
In Westlock Provincial Court Oct. 13, Judge Rosanna Saccomani, appearing via Webex from St. Albert Provincial Court, sentenced Carli R. Macphee to 26 months behind bars which will be served at the Edmonton Institution for Women, a lifetime weapons ban and three-year driving prohibition. Sentencing had been delayed Sept. 1 as the 31 year old was expecting the birth of her second child Sept. 13 — that infant boy will be joining her in prison, while her daughter will remain with her grandmother.
Last December, Judge Saccomani found Macphee guilty on nine charges surrounding the July 24, 2019 incident — three counts of assaulting a peace officer and single counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, flight from a peace officer, obstructing a peace officer, mischief over $5,000, driving a vehicle with no insurance and driving an unregistered vehicle. Three witnesses, including two RCMP officers, were called to the stand during Macphee’s two-hour trial in Westlock Oct. 7, 2020.
Judge Saccomani spent close to 30 minutes talking about the pre-sentence report, Gladue Report, the Crown and defence sentencing submissions and Macphee’s previous criminal record before issuing her verdict. At the Sept. 1 hearing, defence lawyer Peter Keyes had asked for a conditional sentence, which Judge Saccomani flatly denied saying, “ … there is absolutely no way I would consider a conditional sentence order. This calls for an actual period of incarceration.”
Although the judge recognized Macphee’s troubled childhood and the loss of her sister in a 2003 MVA, the severity of the crime called for jail time. A restitution order from the Westlock RCMP for $2,275.09 for the damages Macphee caused to the RCMP cruiser during her flight was dismissed. She was also ordered to submit a sample of her DNA.
“I know this is hard to take. But you’ll be a better, stronger mother for your children as a result of this sentence and as a result of the learning you will do in this (Edmonton Institution for Women) setting,” Judge Saccomani told Macphee, who appeared in court in person. “I actually think this will do her a world of good in a rehabilitative and restorative approach.
“It never makes make happy to impose a custodial disposition, but I wish you well. Good luck.”
“Thank you,” Macphee replied before leaving the courtroom, while sheriffs carried her luggage.
The crime
On July 24, 2019 at about 12:15 a.m., then-Westlock RCMP Const. Andrew Veinot was on routine patrol in the Hamlet of Fawcett when he saw a stationary black Dodge dually pickup truck with a flatbed trailer in tow.
When the truck began to move, Veinot noted no taillights on the truck or trailer so he activated his emergency lights to make a stop — the truck stopped and Veinot parked his RCMP cruiser behind it.
Just as he was about to exit his vehicle the Dodge reversed and slammed twice into the cruiser. It then sped away heading north through Fawcett and Veinot gave chase at speeds close to double the posted limit. Veinot eventually lost sight of the vehicle, but had radioed the incident in.
Meanwhile, then-Athabasca RCMP Cpl. Ty Roddick-Ament, who also testified at the trial, was on patrol that night and had heard they had lost sight of the truck near the intersection of Highway 44 and Highway 2. Because he knew the area he pulled off and set up a spike belt at around 12:40 a.m. as there were only two ways the truck could’ve gone.
About 10 minutes later he saw headlights heading toward him — he was parked in the shoulder of the westbound lane and ready, he said, to either pull the belt out of the way if it wasn’t the right one.
But the truck changed course into his lane and headed straight for him. He broke cover and ran into the ditch because he knew the truck had already rammed Veinot. The truck went at him there too, so he ran again. The truck driver purposefully aimed for him, the officer testified, and avoided the spike belt.
“I was afraid I was going to be dead, to be honest,” Roddick-Ament said during cross-examination.
While heading to that locale, Veinot found the trailer on a backroad and then at 1:20 a.m. the RCMP found the truck, which had crashed into a ditch in Athabasca County. A search team went out on foot through tall, wet grass and found Macphee and Lucas Jenkins lying on the ground 50 metres from the truck.
