Taber man gets jail time and fine for high-speed chase with police
By Medicine Hat News on May 3, 2023.
A Taber man will spend nine months in jail and pay an $8,500 fine after pleading guilty to taking police on a high-speed chase last summer. John Bergen pled guilty April 18 in Taber Court of Justice to four charges that he drove a truck at a high speed toward an oil battery, then made a U-turn and began accelerating toward police, who had to reverse to avoid collision. The truck then passed through a farmer’s field, eventually evading police. City police, with the assistance of RCMP, later found the abandoned truck. A K-9 unit then located the driver. Bergen confessed to police he was the sole driver of the vehicle, though there were two passengers in the truck with him at the time. He also admitted to having consumed alcohol prior to getting behind the wheel. Bergen also was sentenced to a one-year driving prohibition. 7-6
