A provincial court judge has found a man guilty of all but one of the six counts he was facing for a wild ride through the city's streets roughly 1 1/2 years ago.
According to a reasons for judgment issued Wednesday, Dustin Daniel Heltman was driving a van southbound on Highway 97 during the afternoon of Nov. 14, 2015 when he rear-ended a pickup truck pulling a small utility trailer.
Instead of pulling over to exchange information, Heltman took off, using his hand to hide his face from the other driver as he passed by and sped away.
The pickup truck's driver followed and called 911 to report a hit and run. Heltman turned onto Griffiths Avenue after veering around a vehicle in the left-turn lane and made his way to 20th Avenue, reaching speeds estimated at 70-80 km/h.
With traffic flowing both ways on Massey Drive and one vehicle waiting to turn east, the Heltman lurched to a stop at the intersection and then, as soon as a space in the traffic opened up, he gunned his engine and proceeded east on Massey, continuing to accelerate.
As he passed by the YMCA, an RCMP officer noticed the damage to the van's grille, hood and headlight, pulled a U-turn and turned on his emergency equipment. Heltman ignored the officer and instead turned east onto 20th Avenue at an estimated 100 km/h and onto Highway 16.
The officer called off the pursuit due to safety concerns but continued to follow from a distance and watch as Heltman drove towards Victoria Street weaving through traffic and blowing through a red light at Spruce Street, smoke pouring out of the van's engine. Heltman drove so fast the van's wheels left the roadway when it hit the bumps and to avoid dealing with another red light, he drove up onto the sidewalk.
When Heltman turned south on Quince, the officer turned south on Victoria. Looking east along Porter, the officer found Heltman, now out of the van and running toward him. And looking beyond Heltman, he saw the van with the driver's side door hanging open and with no one in the driver’s seat, rolling along Quince Street toward a power pole.
Heltman escaped arrest by slipping into an alley and then over a fence. But RCMP found a cellphone in the van eventually determined to be Heltman's and, his identity was confirmed through a photo of him from a previous dealing with police.
During the trial, Heltman testified he was out with his brother and his girlfriend as part of a month-long stay in Prince George. But judge Thomas Woods noted Heltman's "memory failed him utterly" when asked about what he was doing at the time of the incident. Woods also noted Heltman raised the defence at the 11th hour without proper notice to the Crown.
"On grounds both of lack of particularity and lack of timeliness, I turn a sceptical eye on Mr. Heltman’s alibi evidence," Woods said in the judgment.
As to Heltman's identity, Woods found the descriptions given by the pickup driver and the officer matched to the point of proof beyond reasonable doubt. Heltman was found guilty of dangerous driving, fleeing police, failing to stop at the scene of an accident, driving while prohibited or licence suspended and driving without due care and attention, and will be sentenced in June.
He was found not guilty of mischief, damaging or destroying property due to a lack of evidence on Heltman's state of mind when he struck the trailer, which was damaged beyond repair. The pickup truck's driver found it sitting on the lawn at College of New Caledonia after realizing some time after the collision it had become detached.
