An area man caught wasted behind the wheel after getting in a fight and engaging in some terrible driving was sent to jail for 40 days Friday and prohibited from driving for three years.
Court heard Jason Proulx, 29, got into a disturbance with a pedestrian in Capreol around midnight last Dec. 15 and drove his car wildly out of a driveway.
Assistant Crown attorney Philip Zylberberg and defence counsel Ted Conroy disagreed over whether anyone was hit by Proulx?s car. Conroy said the pedestrian ?was almost hit? before Proulx took off for Sudbury.
Conroy said his client had cuts on his hands and face because the pedestrian had punched a window out in Proulx?s car and then punched him in the face.
Court heard that after the altercation, police were called and caught up to a car matching the one owned by Proulx around McCrea Heights.
A police officer notice the driver was swerving badly, crossed the centre line more than once and forced other drivers to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
When he turned on his emergency lights to make the driver pull over, Proulx crossed three lanes of traffic before pulling over to the shoulder. He had trouble walking and talking when the officer asked him to step out of the vehicle and produce identification.
At police headquarters, two breathalyser tests indicated Proulx had three times the legal amount of alcohol allowed in Canada to operate a motor vehicle.
Zylberberg told the court Proulx has a previous drunk driving conviction in 1997 and a jail sentence is necessary as this case involved ?serious impaired driving? as the readings were very high and there was very bad driving involved.
Justice William Fitzgerald agreed to the joint submission and made it clear a jail sentence was mandatory as the driving was dangerous and Proulx is a repeat offender.
