Conviction in police pursuit case

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on January 29, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A dead end road, barbed wire fence and even an irrigation ditch didn’t stop Shawn Samuel Fralick from trying to elude police during a chase on Aug. 31, 2020.
Sheriffs tried to stop Fralick while he was driving on Highway 3 near Fort Macleod after they noticed the rear window was missing from the Hyundai Accent he was driving. Sheriffs also noticed the licence plate did not match the Hyundai or any other vehicle. When they attempted to stop Fralick he sped away, leaving Highway 3. Officers ended the chase for public safety, but a police officer in an unmarked vehicle covertly followed Fralick to a dead-end road. Fralick stopped but then drove through a barbed wire fence, dragging the fence behind him until he encountered an irrigation canal and was forced to stop.
Two men ran from the vehicle and the officer told Fralick, who was the driver, he was under arrest. Fralick ran away, but he and the other man were later arrested nearby.
Fralick, 25, pleaded guilty Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court to one count of flight from police, and was sentenced to four and a half months in jail and prohibited from driving for two years. He also pleaded guilty to one count of not having insurance on the vehicle and was sentenced to 45 days in jail, to be served concurrently with the first sentence and an unrelated sentence he is currently serving.
Lethbridge lawyer Vincent Guinan noted his client was homeless and had a “significant drug problem” at the time of the offence.

Follow @DShurtzHerald on Twitter