Driver who almost hit police car pleads guilty to dangerous driving
A southern Alberta man who nearly collided with several vehicles, including a police car, will spend nearly three months in jail.
Daniel Robert Conine was sentenced Wednesday in Lethbridge court of justice, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving.
At about 5 p.m. on July 8 of last year, a police officer in an unmarked car was stopped at a controlled intersection on 13 Street and 9 Avenue North. When the light turned green and the officer began moving forward, he noticed another vehicle enter the intersection and swerve around other vehicles, nearly striking two of them before coming to an abrupt stop directly beside the driver’s door of the police car.
The officer recognized Conine and his girlfriend in the passenger seat, and when Conine noticed the officer he drove away.
“The officer decided not to pursue him because he was afraid of the risk that would put on other traffic on the road,” Crown Prosecutor Robert Morrison told court. “Thankfully there was no accident, but there were three cars, one of them being the police car, that were almost struck by Mr. Conine’s driving at the time.”
Morrison noted that at the time of the offence, Conine was on a release order prohibiting him from occupying the driver’s seat of a motor vehicle.
Conine, who court was told has an extensive criminal record with convictions for various offences, was sentenced to 90 days in jail, minus five days he spent in remand custody.
An additional charge of failing to comply with release conditions was withdrawn, but Conine still faces recent charges of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon or threat of a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, carrying a concealed weapon and resisting a peace officer. He returns to court on those matters Aug. 2.