BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
While serving a conditional sentence for an aggravated assault, Rodney Nahwegezhic committed several violent acts against his ex-girlfriend, and then turned his rage on police officers in early 2004.
Despite asking for the mercy of the court, Nahwegezhic was given a six-month jail sentence Wednesday and placed on probation for a further 18 months.
The accused, 33, accepted responsibility for his aggressive actions, and attempted to show the court and the public he is now committed to purging the demons from within and trying to be a responsible individual.
Because Nahwegezhic was serving a conditional sentence from another incident from June 2002, when he repeatedly assaulted his girlfriend, that sentence was revoked and he?s spent the last four months in jail. The jail sentence imposed Wednesday won?t begin until his last sentence expires later this summer.
Between the Jan. 1 and Feb. 29, Nahwegezhic assaulted his victim in a variety of ways. In one incident, he grabbed her by the legs and pulled her off a bed, scraping her legs. In other incidents, he confined her to her bathroom and held her down on the floor for extended periods of time.
He also forced his way into her residence by a door and also entered through a window on another occasion.
On Feb. 8, around midnight, Nahwegezhic broke into a 1999 Chevrolet, cracked the ignition column and attempted to steal the vehicle. The owners of the car witnessed him attempting to steal their car and confronted him outside. He fled and the owners followed, but eventually lost him.
Greater Sudbury Police were called, and soon they found Nahwegezhic walking down a street. An officer arrested him.
At police headquarters, Nahwegezhic became increasingly belligerent with the arresting officer and shouted at him, saying, ?I?ll wreck you.?
Nahwegezhic didn?t stop there, and continued to use profanity and threaten the officer physically.
The officer entered the room, telling Nahwegezhic to lay down on the ground. He didn?t comply, and the officer blasted Nahwegezhic with pepper spray in the face. Another officer then hit Nahwegezhic in the leg. He was then brought to the floor and handcuffed.
Justice William Fitzgerald gave Nahwegezhic a chance to address the court and he did.
?I have learned some tough lessons...completed two anger management courses...and I am trying to regain my status of good behaviour,? said Nahwegezhic.
Defense lawyer Craig Fleming argued his client has had a tough life, spending the majority of his life in foster homes and other different care facilities.
Nahwegezhic was on heavy drugs by the time he was 18, but in his 20s he had a revelation, assumed a new faith and kicked his booze and drug habit for five years. He also noted Nahwegezhic and his ex-girlfriend tried to have a child, but lost it, and then his ex-girlfriend ended the relationship. Nahwegezhic became stressed out and went back to drugs and alcohol.
Fitzgerald took a long pause before imposing sentence.
?I hesitate, Mr. Nahwegezhic, because you demonstrate to the community and the court you are a violent person,? said Fitzgerald. ?You?ve been in court before because you are a violent person and you continue to be a violent person. It?s a great concern. It?s one thing to say you?re sorry...it?s
another to prove to the community you can live without being violent to other people.?
