A man has been sentenced to two years in prison for a wild police chase through the South Okanagan and multiple farmer’s fields earlier this year.
Tyler Winston Thomas Newton, 37, appeared in Penticton court Tuesday to receive a 730-day sentence after pleading guilty to charges of flight from police, dangerous driving, obstruction and possession of stolen property for a chase on May 27.
“It must be made absolutely clear to Mr. Newton, and to others… that the courts will not tolerate failing to stop a motor vehicle when required to do so by police,” said Judge Michelle Daneliuk, calling the police chase "particularly egregious."
Daneliuk accepted the Crown’s suggestion for the 24-month sentence, also handing Newton two years of probation and a three year driving ban. The defence had sought an 18-month sentence.
Court previously heard police found Newton early on the morning of May 27 sleeping in a stolen Jeep in OK Falls. When officers awoke him, he drove away south on Highway 97.
Unmarked police cars trailed from a distance while he drove erratically. Newton crashed through a farm gate at a property on Road 2 in Oliver, eventually driving over a spike belt deployed by police.
Despite puncturing three tires, Newton continued to flee “swerving all over the roadway,” said the Crown.
Newton continued to drive down McKinney Road, spinning out between the Petro-Canada and OIB offices, where officers boxed him in. He slammed the Jeep into reverse into an occupied RCMP cruiser, then forward through a fence and into a tomato field on Black Sage Road. Newton smashed through 75 rows of tomatoes, also damaging an irrigation system.
The chase continued onto Tucelnuit Drive where the Jeep got stuck on a lawn. As officers ordered Newton out of the SUV, he continued to spin the wheels. Police eventually had to break the driver’s window with a rock and deploy a Taser to arrest him three hours after the chase began.
Prior to the chase, Newton had 42 convictions over a criminal career spanning 19 years, and had been released from prison for a previous police chase just four months prior.
After credit for time already served, Newton has 433 days left on his sentence.
- Colin Dacre, Castanet
