Flight from police nets man six months of house arrest

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

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

When Lethbridge police questioned Stephen Cornelius De Visser last March about some equipment violations on the vehicle he was driving, he only risked getting a ticket for not having an operator’s licence. But then he took off, speeding through stop signs and red lights before police subsequently tracked him down and arrested him.

Instead of receiving a ticket, De Visser was charged with dangerous driving, flight from police, obstructing a peace officer and attempting to avoid arrest, and during a hearing Friday in Lethbridge provincial court he pleaded guilty to the single count of dangerous driving and received a six-month conditional sentence.

“He’s quite young, he did a very foolish thing,” Crown Prosecutor Bruce Ainscough told the judge. “Had he let things play out he only would have received a ticket for…operating a motor vehicle without a subsisting licence.”

At about 7 p.m. on March 15, police observed a motor vehicle drive into a parking lot downtown and park at a stall. Police noticed the licence plate was dirty except around the screws that attach it to the vehicle, and suspected the plate might be stolen.

Police checked into the plate, and while it belonged to De Visser it was not registered to any particular vehicle. Police also learned he didn’t have an operator’s licence and only had a suspended class eight identification card.

As De Visser and a passenger were getting out of the vehicle to head into a nearby business, police pulled up and questioned De Visser about the licence plate, and he returned to the vehicle to look for documentation. De Visser claimed the vehicle belonged to his brother and should have registration and insurance. He also claimed his own name was Ryan De Visser.

De Visser got back into the vehicle, but instead of providing police with documents, he started up the vehicle, drove over a concrete barrier and large landscaping rocks before speeding away, reaching speeds estimated at 80 to 90 km-h as he fled down 3 Avenue South. Police did not chase him given the high volume of vehicle and pedestrian traffic at the time.

During the first three months of the conditional sentence De Visser must remain in his residence under house arrest, followed by three months of curfew between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. every day.

Although Judge Timothy Hironaka accepted the joint submission for a conditional sentence, he pointed out the Crown was being lenient and De Visser will not be so lucky to avoid jail if he commits similar offences again.

Follow @DShurtzHerald on Twitter