WESTLOCK – A 21-year-old man who was high on meth when he pointed a loaded 12-gauge shotgun at police during a high-speed chase in the fall of 2020 received a 27-month prison sentence.
In Westlock Provincial Court Oct. 13, Judge Rosanna Saccomani, appearing via Webex from St. Albert Provincial Court, sentenced Jacob Lloyd Chambers to 810 days (27 months) in jail for a laundry-list of offences — on Sept. 1 he pleaded guilty to 11 charges including flight from police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, assaulting a peace officer, operating a motor vehicle while prohibited, using a firearm in the commission of an offence, careless use/storage of a firearm, pointing a firearm at a person, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of firearm when prohibited to do so, failing to comply with a probation order and possession of stolen property over $5,000.
Chambers, who’s been behind bars at the Edmonton Remand Centre for the past 222 days, received two-for-one credit on that time, meaning he’s got 366 days left to serve. Ten other charges, many of them multiples of what he pleaded guilty to Sept. 1, were officially withdrawn.
While Crown prosecutor Patricia Hankinson argued for a 30-month sentence, calling the charges “incredibly serious” and cited Chambers 53 prior Criminal Code convictions, defence lawyer Richard Forbes advocated for 18 months in jail pointing to his client’s troubled upbringing that saw him abused repeatedly in foster care — details of his past were included in a Gladue Report.
Judge Saccomani, while agreeing that Chambers had a “very bad upbringing” and called his foster parents “animals”, said the 810-day sentence was an absolute minimum for the crimes he committed. Following his release Chambers will have to submit a sample of his DNA to police and also faces a two-year driving ban and lifetime weapons prohibition.
“I can’t in any way begin to understand your pain. But from one human being to another I can understand how it could have had a devastating impact and led you to abuse drugs and alcohol at an early age. I get that,” said Judge Saccomani, who at the same time noted she couldn’t ignore his long criminal record that included five flight from police convictions.
“But the circumstances here are very serious. They’re grave as far as I’m concerned. I know at the core you’re a good person and you’ve gone through some terrible things. I know if you could turn back time you would have never gotten in that stolen vehicle and never found yourself in that position. I believe that. You’ve expressed remorse and I believe you’re truly, genuinely sad about what you did. I want you to get on your way and I want you to be strong and healthy. You’re only 21, you have lots of years ahead of you.”
Chambers, who admitted to being high on methamphetamine during the chase, wept openly on while details of his childhood and adult life were read into the record — his father passed away in his apartment just over a month before the crime spree. Following his release Chambers, who appeared in court via CCTV from the ERC, said he plans to get his life back together.
“Upon my next release I do plan on moving back to Lloydminster. I do have a job lined up as a mechanic. I’m not going back to drugs,” he told Judge Saccomani.
The crime
Following Chambers’ guilty pleas Sept. 1, Crown prosecutor James Wilson told court that at around 11 a.m., Sept. 5, 2020 Westlock RCMP were called to a rural residence where a man and woman had stopped and asked the property owner for gas. When police arrived they pulled in front of the white van and activated their lights — it immediately sped off and nearly hit the RCMP cruiser. The vehicle, which turned out to be stolen from Edmonton, headed north on Range Road 254 toward Highway 661.
Police quickly called off the high-speed chase, but continued to follow at a distance and kept it in sight — the vehicle eventually turned on to Range Road 243, a dead-end road. RCMP followed and saw the vehicle turn around and drive toward the cruiser at “a high rate of speed.”
“RCMP activated their emergency equipment again as it was apparent the white van was on collision course with their vehicle,” said Wilson. “RCMP had to swerve to the right to avoid being struck by the fleeing van and a second pursuit initiated.”
The van then took off east and blew through the stop sign on Highway 2 and Township Road 624, then slowed and turned to the left facing north to expose the driver’s side window to the RCMP.
“RCMP angled in the same fashion as it was believed the suspect was trying to turn around. At that point he (Chambers) stopped, held and pointed a long-barrel firearm out the window at the RCMP members,” said Wilson. “RCMP exited the patrol vehicle to engage the suspect and the suspect fled again in the vehicle.”
The chase continued south for about 15 minutes into the Rochester area and eventually came to an end on Range Road 255 where Chambers and the woman passenger, who was his girlfriend at the time, surrendered.
During the arrest Chambers told police he had thrown the 12-gauge Winchester shotgun out of the window during the chase south — after backtracking, police were eventually able to locate the weapon about a mile away. Multiple rounds of shotgun ammo, plus two steel collapsible batons were also found in the van.
“The Winchester shotgun was fully loaded with a live round in the chamber and the safety was off,” said Wilson. “Had a passerby or child found the weapon the only action required to discharge it in the condition it was in was to pull the trigger.”
