(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - A Kamloops man was handed over $2,000 in fines and a one-year driving prohibition after fleeing from a check stop drunk, nearly running over a cop and crashing into a tree.

Bevindeep Singh Ollek, 23, pleaded guilty today in Kamloops Provincial Court after facing multiple charges including impaired driving, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and flight from a peace officer following an incident in July.

Ollek was pulled over at a police check stop near Scotch Creek on July 20, but fled the scene after realizing he was over the limit. As he took off in a friend's pick-up truck, he narrowly missed a police officer, Crown prosecutor Frank Caputo said.

"It was within about a metre from (the officer) when it passed," Caputo said. "They were flagging him down. Once (police) caught up to the vehicle, it had crashed into a tree."

Police pursued him by foot before arresting him. Ollek was arrested for impaired driving and blew more than twice the legal limit. The vehicle, not owned by Ollek, sustained nearly $19,000 in damages.

The Crown asked Kamloops Provincial Court Judge Stephen Harrison to prohibit Ollek from driving for two years along with fines and restitution for damages to the vehicle.

Defence lawyer Kevin Walker asked Harrison to consider the impacts on Ollek having no vehicle while living in Knutsford and attending TRU as a finance student.

"There's no public transportation system (in Knutsford)," Walker said. "Any prohibition will have a dramatic effect on him."

Walker added that restitution would be sought by ICBC for damages regardless of a court-imposed restitution order.

Harrison said Ollek didn't help himself by fleeing. 

"You had some options there and you made the wrong choice in determining to run," he said. "You put yourself and others in danger."

Harrison imposed a $900 fine for flight from a peace officer, a $1,200 fine for impaired driving and a one-year criminal driving prohibition.

"The Superintendent of Motor Vehicles will have his own requirements for you before you're back behind a wheel," Harrison said.

To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca, call: (250) 319-7494 or tweet: @jess__wallace.

News from © iNFOnews, 2013