A man who pleaded guilty to firing two shots at a snow removal truck while trying to evade police following a break and enter at a local motel nearly a year ago was sentenced Monday to 4 1/2 years in prison.
Less credit for time served prior to sentencing, Pride Dawson Moore, 30, will serve a further three years for the Jan. 11, 2019 event that began shortly after 2 a.m. when Moore and an accomplice donned masks and broke into a room at a local motel.
A clerk, who heard some banging and then checked the video which showed the two breaking through the door, called RCMP. The culprits, meanwhile, carried out some suitcases and backpacks from the room and left the scene in a pickup truck that was quickly spotted by police.
When an officer tried to pull it over, the pickup sped away. The officer did not pursue but followed the vehicle to the end of Domano Boulevard and onto a forest service road where a snow removal crew was working.
The crew was asked to keep an eye out for the truck while RCMP set up a containment zone and started to search for the culprits. Meanwhile, one of the snow removal crew came across the pickup further along the road where had become stuck in the snow, and flashed his truck's high beams.
In turn, Moore pulled out a .22-calibre rifle and opened fire, hitting the truck's bug screen and then sending a bullet through the windshield. By then, the driver had ducked and was not injured.
Moore and his accomplice split up with Moore heading west and the other man, who managed to escape police, heading east. Moore eventually ended up back at the entrance to the forest service road where he was arrested. Wet, cold and missing a shoe, he was treated for hypothermia by ambulance attendants before he was taken into custody.
A pair of RCMP dogs and handlers, supported by members of the emergency response team, had been following the respective paths of the two suspects. On the one Moore took, RCMP came across seven bullet casings where the shots had been fired and further along found two rifles leaning against a tree as well as a backpack containing items stolen from the motel room.
Moore, who was represented by lawyer Tony Zipp, eventually pleaded guilty to five charges including unlawful discharge of a firearm and break and enter.
Sentencing came in the form of a joint submission from Crown and defence counsels that drew only reluctant support from provincial court judge Cassandra Malfair, saying she would have sentenced Moore to as much as eight years if given the chance.
One of the bullets went through the driver's side of the windshield and "frankly, it was shear by luck" that the driver was not seriously wounded or killed, she noted.
However, while at the low end of the range, Malfair agreed with counsel that the sentence called for in the submission was within the bounds of the law and prevented the needed for a lengthy preliminary inquiry and trial. Combined, they would have added up to eight weeks, the court was told.
"I cannot say that it is contrary to the public interest or would bring the administration of justice into disrepute," Malfair said. "As such, I am required by law to accept the joint submission and I will cede to it."
