Snowmobile chase leads to jail time
Six months in jail for drunken romp through Tuktoyaktuk last month
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Monday, February 20, 2017
TUKTOYAKTUK
A Tuktoyaktuk man who led police on drunken wild goose chase on his snowmobile, virtually taunting them to arrest him, has been sentenced to six months in jail.
Amos Chicksi, 25, was sentenced in territorial court in Yellowknife by Judge Robert Gorin on Feb. 15.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Chicksi was spotted by RCMP about 4:30 in the morning on Jan. 27 driving erratically and at high speed on his snow machine through the community.
Court heard an RCMP officer caught up to Chicksi several times while in his police vehicle, only to have Chicksi stop momentarily before speeding off again on his sled. At one point Chicksi asked the officer why he wanted him to stop - telling him to leave him alone.
At another, the officer had to brake to avoid a collision with the snowmobile as Chicksi essentially played a game of cat and mouse with the police vehicle.
It was not clear exactly how long the chase went on for. At times Chicksi was on the machine by himself and at other times he had a female passenger with him.
Police eventually called off the chase, presumably because they knew who Chicksi was and wanted to avoid an accident.
They eventually caught up to him at a residence but as they tried to arrest him, Chicksi fled on foot, court heard.
Police caught up with him again and were able to apprehend him with the use of pepper spray. Once back at the detachment, Chicksi was described as physically and verbally violent.
When he was taken into a room by an RCMP breathalyzer technician, Chicksi said he had drank a flat of beer and just wanted to go home. He refused to provide a breath sample and ran out of the room.
Gorin convicted Chicksi of failure to stop for police, resisting arrest and refusing to provide a breath sample after Chicksi pleaded guilty to all three charges.
Chicksi, who has an extensive criminal record, is the product of a dysfunctional home and upbringing, his defence lawyer Paul Falvo told the court.
"There was violence and alcohol in the home," Falvo said.
At one point as a child, he watched his father point a gun at his mother who was able to push it away before any harm was done.
Falvo said Chicksi is the father of four young children and has another on the way. He added Chicksi behaved the way he did that morning because he just wanted attention.
"If you were attempting to get attention then you succeeded," Gorin said as he scolded Chicksi. "Not only was your behaviour criminal but it was flaky."
Gorin rejected Chicksi's plea for a lighter sentence. Chicksi explained to the judge that his grandmother is terminally ill and he wanted to spend time with her while he still could.
"You've run out of fresh starts. You drove dangerously and erratically and your flight from police was prolonged," Gorin said.
Chicksi is prohibited from driving any motor vehicle for two years after his release.
It is expected he will serve his time, which amounts to five months, given his pre-court custody, at the North Slave Correctional Centre.
