Sentence for stolen vehicle will coincide ‘almost seamlessly’ with available addictions program
By Peggy Revell on March 31, 2018.
prevell@medicinehatnews.com @MHNprevell A lower-end sentence of seven-and-a-half months was handed down Thursday to a Medicine Hat man who fled from police in a stolen vehicle. Daniel Magnus, 37, pled guilty to possessing stolen property, possessing a stolen vehicle, failure to stop for police and obstruction at the Medicine Hat Provincial Court — with a joint submission for sentencing accepted by the judge, so his release will “almost seamlessly” coincide with a three-month addictions rehabilitation program. Facts read into court stated that in the early morning of Feb. 8, a 1998 red Mercury Sable worth $1,000 was stolen from outside a pizzeria. Video showed one person inside the pizza place, and police eventually located Magnus, but he gave them a fake name and they released him. Eventually, police located the stolen vehicle which Magnus was driving — but he refused to stop for them, and drove dangerously away. At 6:30 a.m., he was involved in a motor vehicle collision on N. Railway, and fled on foot. Police pursued and caught up to him at the Legion. Police found in his possession a number of prepaid Visa cards. While Magnus has an “unenviable record,” Crown said it and defence came up with the sentence so it has him in custody until July when he has a bed at an addictions recovery centre open to him. Sentence In a similar incident, another man who crashed a stolen vehicle was sentenced Thursday to three months jail. James Douglas Blain pled guilty to possessing a stolen truck, possession stolen identification documents and a breach. On Feb. 7 at 5:45 p.m. police responded to a vehicle collision around 3030 13th Ave. SE, where the involved vehicle turned out to be one reported as stolen earlier that day from downtown. Blain, the driver of this vehicle, was located by police and arrested. A stolen ID was found in the vehicle. Blain also pled guilty to fraud under $5,000 due to two transactions of $89 and $65 at a local gas station he made using the tap feature on a stolen credit card. The 25-year-old has no criminal record, with the court hearing that an addiction is at the root of these incidents — once released from custody he will be seeking treatment. Due to time spent in custody, Blain has 13 days left in his sentence. A restitution order of $6,288.93 was also granted as compensation for damage caused by the vehicle. 15
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