Man sentenced to one year in jail for failing to stop for police
By Shurtz, Delon on April 24, 2020.
Delon Shurtz
lethbridge herald
Kody Abraham Martens may have thought he’d gotten away from police during a car chase through Lethbridge streets in February, but his freedom was short-lived.
On Feb. 7 police responded to a report of a stolen Volkswagen SUV and went to a city hotel where he saw a man loading items into a vehicle. When the man drove away, the officer followed, but when the suspect noticed the police car behind him, he took off, leading the officer on a chase until it was called off for the public’s safety.
The officer returned to the hotel where he learned the name of another person staying at the hotel with Martens, and he was able to determine who the suspect was. As he was showing a photo lineup to hotel employees, another officer unaware Martens had just fled from police, saw Martens near a stopped vehicle. The officer knew Martens had previously been prohibited from driving, and when he noticed Martens was carrying a set of car keys, he arrested him.
Martens, 32, who court was told has fetal alcohol syndrome, pleaded guilty Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court to one charge of failing to stop for police. He was sentenced to one year in jail, but given credit of nearly four months for time he’s spent in custody since his arrest. He was also prohibited from driving for two years.
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