Man earns jail time for fleeing from police
By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on June 30, 2022.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com Fleeing from police has earned a Lethbridge man a three-month stay at the Lethbridge Correctional Centre.Steven Joseph Briggs, 27, was sentenced Wednesday in Lethbridge provincial court, where he pleaded guilty to one count of resisting a peace officer.
At about 4:30 p.m. on June 21 police officers with the high risk offender unit checked to determine whether Briggs was complying with parole conditions. They found him at a known drug house on the northside – in violation of his parole – and saw him loading wood into a motor vehicle parked in the alley.
When police approached him he became defensive and confrontational, and when they requested his parole documents he swore at them and returned to the residence, slamming the door shut behind him. Police ran to the front of the house in time to see Briggs cross the street and run down an alley, and chased him through yards while ordering him to stop.
“He climbed over a fence into a backyard, then began taunting police officers by swearing at them,” Crown Prosecutor Bruce Ainscough told court.
Briggs climbed onto a shed, swore at police again, then jumped down and continued to flee through yards before returning to the residence at which he was first seen. He got into the motor vehicle and took off, and the vehicle was later found abandoned at 23 Street and 18 Avenue North, only a short distance from the residence of his ex-girlfriend, and with whom he was not to have any contact.
The ex-girlfriend did not co-operate with police and told them Briggs was not inside, but police contacted his mother who helped police contact her son by telephone. Although police negotiated his surrender at his mother’s resident, Briggs never appeared and told his mother he was not going turn himself in and threatened to kill himself.
A warrant was subsequently issued and Briggs was arrested sometime later.
The Crown pointed out Briggs has a lengthy criminal record, which includes a conviction for an incident involving robbery, flight from police and motor vehicle theft, for which he was sentenced to four years in prison.
Briggs, who was represented by duty counsel, was sentenced to 90 days in jail, consecutive to any time he is currently serving. When given an opportunity to speak, he told court he was prepared to accept responsibility for his conduct
“Your honour, I’m not going to argue with whatever you give me,” Briggs said. “I did it and I’m in the wrong, so I will accept whatever is put on me. I have to take accountability for my actions.” Follow @DShurtzHerald on Twitter 4
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