A 34-year-old man with a history of trying to evade police while behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle faces five charges from his arrest Friday at the scene of a three-vehicle collision.
Paul Daniel Shaw faces two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and one count each of possession of stolen property over $5,000, dangerous driving and fleeing police.
Shaw was apprehended near the corner of 15th Avenue and Ewert Street after police were alerted that a 2010 Chevrolet pickup truck had been stolen from the parking lot of a Prince George business.
When plainclothes RCMP tried to box the vehicle in, the driver made "overt efforts to escape the area" and collided with a civilian vehicle and an unmarked police truck.
Shaw was last in the news in December 2013 when he was sentenced to a further 669 days behind bars followed by 18 months probation for counts of dangerous driving, possession of stolen property and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
The outcome stems from an October 2013 incident when an RCMP officer recognized Shaw, who had been issued a three-year driving prohibition for a December 2011 conflict with police, as he was driving along River Road. It turned out he was driving a 2006 Ford F-350 pickup truck.
Knowing Shaw's reputation, police deployed a spike belt near the Cameron Street Bridge to intercept him, but he drove over it and continued for nearly two more kilometres and then rammed a police vehicle on North Nechako Road.
Police were then able to surround the truck and bring it to a halt but, despite warnings from RCMP, he attempted to flee out the passenger side. However, he was quickly apprehended by a police dog and taken to hospital with minor bite wounds.
Significant quantities of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine were found on Shaw, police said at the time of the incident.
In December 2012, Shaw was sentenced to 11 months in jail for an incident 12 months before. In that case an RCMP member responded to a call about a man sleeping in a running vehicle in the parking lot of a 900-block Abhau Street apartment building.
The member woke Shaw to see if he was alright, who then put the vehicle in gear and rammed five vehicles and two police cars before escaping. He was arrested later that day.
In September 2011, Shaw was sentenced to 30 days in jail for one count of possession of a break-in instrument and two counts of breach of an undertaking or recognizance following a March 2011 incident in which three police cars were rammed with a stolen truck.
Shaw had originally been charged with theft over $5,000, failure to stop at the scene of an accident, possession of stolen property over $5,000, flight from a peace officer and dangerous driving.
But he had been arrested while on foot about four hours after the vehicle had been abandoned and could not be linked to the event beyond reasonable doubt, so those charges were stayed.
In December 2016, Shaw was sentenced to 263 days in jail for possession for the purpose of trafficking. He had been in custody for 67 days prior to sentencing.
