A man who led Saskatoon police on a wild chase last summer will serve two more years in prison.
Timothy Gunn pleaded guilty in May to nearly 10 charges, including assaulting a police officer, possessing stolen property and failing to stop at the scene of an accident. He was sentenced Wednesday at Saskatoon provincial court.
A judge accepted a joint submission between the Crown and defence, sentencing Gunn to two years in prison followed by two years on probation. The sentence was in addition to the 13 months he’s already served in custody.
Gunn was charged with 19 offences after four police cruisers and six civilian vehicles were damaged during an hour-long police chase in June 2014.
Court heard Wednesday that the truck hit speeds of 120 km/h during the chase.
The pursuit began when police were called about a truck driving erratically around Avenue I and 19th Street.
Officers pursued the vehicle before the chase was called off at 8th Street and Lorne Avenue. The vehicle doubled back into the downtown area where the driver — Gunn — crashed into two vehicles while avoiding stop sticks deployed by police at Idylwyld Drive and 20th Street.
The truck continued to Avenue Q where it hit a police cruiser and was involved in three more collisions before moving towards a police officer who was trying to clear people from the sidewalk near Avenue Q and 24th Street, police said.
The officer pulled his gun and fired shots at the suspect vehicle before getting out of the way.
Another police cruiser was badly damaged at Fairlight Drive, and a third police vehicle was damaged when the officer rammed the truck to bring it to a stop at Circle Drive and 11th Street.
Gunn tried to flee on foot but was arrested with the help of a police dog.
Gunn, as well as two civilians, suffered minor injuries. No police officers were hurt.
Gunn’s defence lawyer told court Wednesday about Gunn’s dysfunctional upbringing.
He was the victim of sexual, physical and emotional abuse and became addicted to drugs at a young age. Members of his family are residential school survivors and, at times, Gunn had to steal to feed himself and his siblings.
Gunn has little recollection of the police chase because he thinks he drank something laced with drugs, his lawyer said.
Gunn told court he wishes he could apologize to those affected by his crimes — to those who were injured, to the police officers and to anyone whose car was damaged.
