Image Credit: RCMP
September 08, 2014 - 4:16 PM
PENTICTON - Prolific offender Ronald Teneycke will be released from custody after a judge ruled he has served his time for charges related to dangerous driving.
Teneycke, 52, appeared in Penticton Provincial Court today for his sentencing. He initially pleaded not guilty but this morning pleaded guilty to three offences including dangerous driving and breach of probation resulting from a car chase with police on March 12 and 13, 2014.
During the daytime hours of March 12, RCMP followed Teneycke through the town of Okanagan Falls out to a bird sanctuary near Vaseux Lake, where Teneycke eventually fled, said Crown prosecutor Cory LaVocane.
That night, police made a curfew call at Teneycke’s residence, but he was not home—a violation of his probation orders, he said.
Police received a phone call the next day, March 13, from a logger who spotted Teneycke’s vehicle. Police drove to the location and again engaged Teneycke in a vehicle pursuit, he said.
But defence lawyer Michael Welsh had more details to add. He said one plainclothes officer driving an unmarked car pulled a gun on Teneycke in the first incident, though LaVocane said the officer denied taking his gun out of its holster.
On the second incident, he said Teneycke crashed his car in a ditch after he hit a police car. Welsh said five of his teeth were broken. He said during the arrest, Teneycke feared he he had broken ribs after he was kicked during the arrest. He complained of chest pain, confirmed by reports from the Penticton RCMP Detachment and Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre. They make no mention of a sore mouth, said LaVaocane.
“The police tried to paint the situation as black as they could,” Welsh said. “(Teneycke) just wants to be left alone.”
Teneycke has an extensive criminal history, with 27 previous convictions, including property damage, breaches, violence and one sexual assault charge from the 1990s.
But Welsh said the police “had no grounds to stalk Mr. Teneycke.”
The police could have done a curfew check instead of following him around town in unmarked cars, he said.
Judge James Threlfall was initially concerned about police targetting Teneycke, but thought better of it after learning police received several complaints, including loitering.
Threlfall sentenced Teneycke to nine months for all three charges. Teneycke has served six months already, and will receive time-and-a-half credit, and will therefore be released from custody today.
“You simply cannot be involved in the law or you’ll be right back in custody,” warned Threlfall before court was dismissed.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Meaghan Archer at marcher@infotelnews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014