Guy Quenneville
Northern News Services
Wednesday, May 16, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - A man who pleaded guilty to driving a stolen vehicle while drunk and prohibited from driving was sentenced last week to 20 months in jail.

Jonas John Baillargeon was charged with one count of vehicle theft, one count of driving on bike impaired and one count of driving while prohibited.

On March 21, Baillargeon, 37, stole his cousin's truck and drove downtown.

He sped through a stop sign and nearly collided with oncoming traffic.

"It seems you're living a charmed life considering you didn't kill or hurt anyone," said Judge Bernadette Schmaltz.

"There would have been children walking to school and people going to work."

A bylaw officer, alerted by another driver, followed Baillargeon with lights flashing and siren wailing, but he didn't stop.

He was caught after leaving the truck and attempting to flee on foot.

Baillargeon's lawyer, James Mahon, said his client was probably too intoxicated to notice the lights and siren.

A breath test showed that his blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit, Schmaltz pointed out.

Mahon said Baillargeon had "a serious problem with alcohol that caused him to act in a different manner" and that Baillargeon expressed a desire to kick his addiction.

Baillargeon has previously been found guilty of impaired driving, driving while prohibited and refusing to submit to a breath test.

Schmaltz also prohibited Baillargeon from driving for the next 10 years.