Speeder wants to put chase behind him
Published Saturday November 21st, 2009
SAINT JOHN - The 24-year-old man who led city police on a high-speed chase at midday Thursday seemed in just as much of a hurry to put the matter behind him when he appeared in provincial court.
Pleading guilty on Friday to five of the six charges against him during a morning session of court, Foster Richard Arsenault, 24, of St. James Street implored Judge Andrew LeMesurier on several occasions to sentence him immediately.
"I don't want to be on remand," he said after Crown prosecutor Gerald McCracken suggested that perhaps a new pre-sentence report might be in order.
"I was out of jail 90 days and nothing is going to change on my pre-sentence report that will make any difference," Arsenault, a self-confessed Dilaudid addict with 22 convictions on his criminal record, told the court.
When the judge asked the accused if he understood he could go to a penitentiary, Arsenault said he did.
And that's just what happened following a 70-minute sentencing hearing Friday afternoon during which McCracken suggested maybe it was time to send Arsenault to a federal prison, while duty counsel Mel Norton Jr. appealed for something short of that.
Noting Arsenault's lengthy criminal record and the fact the unlicenced driver's failure to stop for authorities until he slammed the Pontiac Sunbird he was driving into a police cruiser that had overtaken him and blocked his access to the Saint John Harbour Bridge, LeMesurier gave him a total sentence of two and a half years in a penitentiary.
"Because of the time, noon hour, school-age children could have been injured," he told the accused.
Arsenault got three months in jail for stealing a pair of beds-in-a-bag, valued at nearly $600, from Sears Canada; two years consecutive for an indictable count of operating a motor vehicle on Highway 1 in a manner dangerous to the public; and two years concurrent for failing to stop within a reasonable time when being pursued by police.
The accused also received three months consecutive and three months concurrent on a pair of summary charges for breaching an April probation order.
The judge also prohibited him from driving for two years upon his release.
Arsenault must return to court at 10 a.m. on Dec. 9 to face a stolen vehicle charge. He originally pleaded guilty, but after he said he hadn't stolen the vehicle, the judge refused to accept his plea, entering a not guilty plea in the record, instead.
McCracken said the police chase started shortly after noon Thursday when an officer spotted a car, reported stolen earlier in the day, as it made its way along Crown Street. With police in pursuit, the vehicle made its way through a residential area that included Wright Street before making its way onto the throughway, heading west. One of three police cars tailing the man, driven by Const. Trevor Jones, managed to overtake him and block his access to the bridge.
At one point, he the prosecutor said, the chase reached speeds of up to 115 kilometres an hour, endangering the safety of the public and the police.
He said Arsenault, for whatever reason, has a history of ignoring authority. "(He) almost resents it, and does his own thing," he said. Despite being cut breaks by the court on numerous occasions, McCracken added, "Sadly, it has not had the desired effect. Nobody has been able to reach him."
Noting the criminal's relatively young age, Norton suggested that maybe it wasn't too late if Arsenault could get the help he needs. While he agreed there was a need to send a message to the public, "I don't think a penitentiary sentence is the most appropriate (one)," Norton said.
He said Arsenault, who admitted to stealing the items from Sears for resale to support his drug habit, needed to go some place with the resources "to deal with this addiction of evil."
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