WESTLOCK – An area man who led police on a high-speed chase before rolling a stolen truck on a rural backroad last fall, faces a two-year driving ban and 180-day conditional sentence order (CSO) that includes two months of 24-hour-a-day house arrest.
In Westlock Provincial Court July 6, Gavin Morrison pleaded guilty to flight from a peace officer and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle — following the reading of the facts of the case and a question from Judge Robert Shaigec, Crown prosecutor Brett Grierson withdrew the mischief, damage over $5,000 charge that Morrison had previously pleaded guilty to.
Ultimately, Judge Shaigec agreed to the joint-sentence submission from Grierson and defence lawyer Naeem Rauf that’ll see Morrison serve a six-month conditional sentence that starts with two months of strict, 24-hour-a-day house arrest and includes a host of other conditions including not to possess drugs or alcohol — the curfew eases for the remainder of the term.
Following the six months, he faces a year of probation and has been banned from driving for the next two years. At the conclusion of the sentencing by Judge Shaigec, additional charges of theft of a motor vehicle, possession of stolen property over $5,000, failing to remain at the scene of an accident, obstructing a peace officer, failing to comply with a probation order, mischief, damage under $5,000 and theft under $5,000 were withdrawn — the judge also declined to impose a victim-fine surcharge.
Grierson, who took into account the victim-impact statement while proposing the conditional sentence, said Morrison had no previous criminal record and has “issues with substance abuse which needs to be taken care before there’s any improvement for the accused.” Rauf went on to note that his client has been diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia and was recently released from a three-month hospital stay in Athabasca “as they were trying to adjust his medications to find something that worked for him.”
“It’s very important that you follow the conditions because if you don’t you are committing a crime and you can go to jail,” said Judge Shaigec. “If you ever have questions, talk to your mentor or call your lawyer.”
Court heard than around 9 p.m., Oct. 24, 2021, RCMP learned that a 2016 Dodge Ram 2500 had been stolen from in front of a house in Westlock — the victim told police he had left it running to briefly go inside. Later that night while conducting patrols on Highway 44 south near Township Road 610, police spotted the truck, which Grierson said was travelling at 160 km/h.
“It then proceeded north on Range Road 20 going through fields in an attempt to evade apprehension. RCMP then disengaged the pursuit and followed it from a distance and observed the tracks on the road and on occasion the truck’s taillights,” said Grierson.
RCMP finally found the truck in the ditch on Range Road 11 near Township Road 635 as it had failed to make a sharp curve, lost control and rolled onto its roof — the truck was a complete write-off.
“No one was found inside but droplets of blood were observed inside the cab and were seized as evidence,” said Grierson.
Around 90 minutes later, police got a report from a resident two miles north of crash site that a suspicious man with a bloody face had turned up at their door but had run off after she told him she had called the RCMP.
The following day Westlock Healthcare Centre staff told RCMP they had treated a man with injuries to his face — police also heard from a woman who had picked up Morrison the previous night walking near the crash site. Later that day, Oct. 25, Morrison was arrested at a residence in town and admitted to police he had been driving the truck but said someone else had stolen it.
