A 29-year-old man appeared by CCTV from the Edmonton Remand Centre Sept. 4 to plead guilty in Westlock Court of Justice to charges of flight from police, possession of property over $5,000, and possession of property under $5,000.
In a joint sentencing submission, several other charges against Samuel Arthur Edward Lebeau, were withdrawn. These included driving without insurance and without a valid driver’s license, dangerous driving, possession of a controlled substance, theft over $5,000, mischief/causing damage under $5,000, and an additional count of dangerous driving.
Court heard that in May, Lebeau led Westlock RCMP on a high-speed chase through rural roads while driving a stolen Chevrolet truck. The pursuit began in Dapp and posed significant risks because of a lot of curves in the road, unexpected intersections and traffic so RCMP didn’t continue the pursuit.
On June 6, a company employee had parked a utility trailer near a graveyard outside of Westlock and the next day it was stolen. On June 7, police obtained surveillance footage from a gas station that captured Lebeau exiting the stolen truck. He was also in possession of the stolen utility trailer.
Crown Prosecutor Mark Facundo emphasized the seriousness of fleeing from police.
“Any flight from police is very serious. The high-speed chase happened on dangerous roads and luckily no one was injured.”
Defence lawyer Caitlin Bullerkist said Lebeau has significant health issues, severe anxiety, depression, and a troubled upbringing marked by parental addiction and abuse. She said Lebeau began abusing methamphetamine at the age of 13.
In consideration of the time Lebeau has already spent in custody since his arrest in June, and applying enhanced credit of 1.5 days for each day on remand, Justice Bruce R. Garriock gave him 135 days off his sentence. This leaves him with 75 days left to serve in jail.
