BY KEITH LACEY
The family of a Greater Sudbury police officer killed by a teen driving a stolen vehicle almost six years ago is relieved the National Parole Board has ruled Jeremy Trodd, 21, shouldn?t be released from a federal penitentiary.
Trodd was only 16 years of age when he led police on a high-speed chase while driving a stolen van in the early morning hours of July 28, 1999.
The van hit and killed Sgt. Rick McDonald, seconds after McDonald had laid down a spike belt to try and stop the vehicle. McDonald was killed instantly.
Trodd?s cousin, Peter Nagonosh, 17, was also killed when the van careened out of control and struck a hydro post in a ditch near the intersection of Highway 69 and the Highway 17 southeast bypass, near Sudbury?s Four Corners.
Four years ago in March of 2001, Trodd pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal negligence causing death. He was sentenced to six years in prison on
top of almost two years he?d spent in a youth detention centre in Sudbury awaiting trial.
A judge ruled Trodd should be tried as an adult. It was revealed at his sentencing hearing Trodd had been in serious trouble with the law and school
authorities dating back to age 10 and had a long list of serious youth court convictions. Only a few months before the incident that claimed the life of the police officer, Trodd had led police on another chase in another stolen vehicle.
McDonald?s brother Dan said he was shocked to learn Trodd was eligible to be released this Saturday having completed two-thirds of his adult sentence.
?I only heard about it on the radio coming in to work this (Tuesday) morning,? he said. ?I was floored because I didn?t realize he was eligible for release so soon.?
His sister Marlene lives in Ottawa and keeps in close contact with National Parole Board administration. She has told the board she wants an opportunity to speak at any future hearing involving Trodd, said Dan.
?He has another hearing set for May 14 and I know my sister will be there and my mother wants to make the trip...as well,? he said. ?I can?t go myself because I know I would get too emotional.?
Trodd was originally sentenced to serve his time at a youth correctional facility, but opted to serve the majority of his time in a federal penitentiary.
