A Prince George man was found guilty Thursday of leading police on a chase in a stolen pickup truck loaded with stolen industrial equipment that ended with the vehicle in a ditch near the Westgate Shopping Centre.
Jonathan Kyle Relkey, 24, was found guilty of six counts in relation to the incident that began when two pickup trucks were reported stolen - one from a parking lot on Central Street on Oct. 27, 2012, and the other from an Isle Pierre property the next morning.
An RCMP officer heading west on Highway 16 noticed the two trucks heading east near the intersection of Marleau Road and Bear Road, just off Highway 16. A pair of industrial heaters, reported stolen from a local business, were seen in the back of one of the pickups.
The officer turned around and followed the trucks but lost sight of one of them near the Bon Voyage Mall while seeing the other one leave the highway and continuing onto Bear Road at a high rate of speed.
During a two-day trial, the court heard that it was a busy Sunday morning and the truck passed other vehicles on both sides of the road and forced one oncoming vehicle off into the ditch.
By that time, the RCMP officer had activated the lights on his SUV and followed the truck as it passed through a stop sign and then came up to a T-intersection on Marleau Road near Wal-Mart and Home Depot.
The truck turned one direction, then the other and then ended up in the ditch. The road was covered with compact snow and RCMP officer's SUV also ended up crashing into the pickup, the court was told.
Relkey and Ashley Sampson were arrested at the scene while there was a search for a third person, Chad Patrick Poitras, suspected to have also been in the pickup truck when it was first seen. Poitras was apprehended a few days later but charges against the other two were not pursued.
Largely at issue was whether Relkey was behind the wheel when the wild driving happened.
In reaching his decision, Prince George provincial court judge Michael Gray found the officer's testimony credible and found Relkey guilty of theft of a motor vehicle, theft over $5,000, dangerous driving, flight from a peace officer, driving while disqualified and possession of a break-in instrument, all under the Criminal Code.
Relkey still might escape sentencing. A further hearing will be held to determine whether the time it took to get the matter to trial violated Relkey's Charter rights.
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