BY KEITH LACEY
A local man who engaged in an "idiotic" series of events that included stealing an All-Terrain Vehicle, tying it up to the back of a minivan and then leading police on a high-speed chase while drunk was hit with a two-year driving prohibition and three-month jail sentence Wednesday.
Daniel Rheaume, 20, pleaded guilty to impaired driving, dangerous driving and property offences.
Rheaume's 90-day jail sentence will be on top of five weeks he's already spent in custody since his arrest Jan. 24.
Assistant Crown attorney Susan Bruce told the court Greater Sudbury Police received a call from a citizen about a possible drunk driver on property near Sudbury Racetrack Slots at Sudbury Downs.
When police arrived on the scene, they observed an ATV hanging off the back of a van. The ATV was being held in place by a yellow electrical cord, said Bruce.
When police approached the scene, Rheaume was behind the wheel of the van, while a friend was sitting in the driver's seat of the ATV. As police got closer, Rheaume's friend yelled for him to take off and that's exactly what he did, said Bruce.
Police initially gave chase, but backed off when the van Rheaume was exceeding speed limits and was driving in the wrong lane, said Bruce.
From a distance, officers observed the ATV broke free from the van after the electrical cord snapped and rolled into a homeowner's property.
The man on the ATV, Kevin Armstrong, was arrested and charged.
The van pulled into a driveway several hundred metres up the road and police quickly caught up to Rheaume. They noticed a strong smell of alcohol on his breath and he was arrested and charged with impaired driving and numerous other counts.
Two breathalyser tests indicated Rheaume had twice the legal amount of alcohol in his system allowed in Canada to operate a motor vehicle.
Defence counsel Louis Sola said if this incident "happened in a Hollywood B movie, it would be funny", but this was a real life situation where someone, including his client and partner in crime, could have been seriously hurt.
It was only through good fortune no one was hurt and no property was destroyed, said Sola.
"It was idiotic," said Sola.
In all the circumstances a two-year driving prohibition is called for as is another 90 days in jail, said Sola. Justice William Fitzgerald agreed with the joint submission presented to him.
