CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A P.E.I. man who was on a motorcycle when he fled police, who then had to give up the pursuit for safety reasons, was sentenced recently to 90 days in jail.
Neil Francis MacIsaac, 39, appeared before Judge John Douglas in provincial court in Charlottetown for sentencing on four charges, including failing to stop for police, not attend at the jail to serve a sentence on weekends and failing to attend court.
Crown attorney Lisa Goulden told the court MacIsaac was sentenced in June on an unrelated matter and allowed to serve the time on weekends.
Goulden said MacIsaac didn’t report to probation and didn’t show up at the jail to serve his sentence on June 14 or any of the following weekends until his arrest in July.
It took the police some effort to find him, Goulden said.
“He was making significant efforts to dodge them.”
The court heard that on July 19, the police saw MacIsaac on a motorcycle and pulled him over. Goulden said that as the police were about to get out of their vehicle, MacIsaac took off, eventually passing vehicles in a no-passing area to escape.
The police didn’t pursue for safety reasons, Goulden said.
They later found MacIsaac hiding under a bed in his father’s house.
Defence lawyer Alex Dalton told the court substance abuse is an underlying issue for MacIsaac who primarily uses cocaine.
“It gets the best of him,” she said.
Douglas gave MacIsaac 30 days of credit for time spent in custody since his arrest in July, leaving him 60 days to serve.
MacIsaac will also be on probation for 18 months and is banned from driving for six months.
