SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — A 30-year-old Summerside man was in court recently after he fled from police in July.
Scott Randall Bridges pleaded guilty in provincial court to failing without reasonable excuse to stop for police.
RCMP found Bridges in his car around 9 p.m. on July 14 in the Canadian Potato Museum parking lot in O’Leary. The police pulled into the parking lot and stopped nearby. Before they could talk to Bridges, he took off out of the parking lot. RCMP pursued at high speed toward Mount Royal before breaking off the chase for safety reasons.
When RCMP checked the license plate, they found it didn’t belong to the car they’d been chasing.
On July 28, Bridges went into the RCMP detachment to make a statement. It was indeed him in the car July 14. He was living in the car and had stolen the license plate. When he saw the police, he panicked and fled because he didn’t want to lose the car.
“Since the incident I’ve gained full-time employment and a residence. I’ve been keeping to myself, going back and forth to work and trying to make ends meet,” said Bridges.
Crown attorney Christopher White said fleeing police is a charge the court sees “entirely too much of.".
Judge Krista MacKay said avoiding police is “always concerning”, and speeding 140 km/hr in a residential zone is too dangerous for the court to overlook.
As part of general deterrence, MacKay sentenced Bridges to 14 days in custody, 12 months of probation and $100 in victim surcharge. Bridges is also prohibited from driving for 12 months.
Bridges asked to serve his time on weekends, but MacKay said weekends are not an option during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alison Jenkins is a local journalism initiative reporter, a position funded by the federal government.
