PICTOU, N.S. – A Brookvale man will be spending the next 18 months on foot after fleeing the scene of a motor vehicle collision in late 2017.
Christopher Carl Rogers was sentenced in Pictou Provincial Court Tuesday to a four-month conditional sentence that included three months house arrest as well as $1300 in fines and 18 month driving prohibition after pleading guilty to fleeing the scene of a collision on Dec. 1, 2017.
Crown attorney Jody McNeill told the court that police received a call around 4 p.m. on Dec. 1, 2017 that a half ton truck had side-swiped a car on the Vale Road, but continued on without stopping at the scene.
Police located the vacant truck shortly afterwards parked on Tremont Street and soon realized it was owned by Rogers. Police patrolled the area and found Rogers walking nearby, questioned him about the collision and later placed him under arrest.
McNeill said a witness to the collision said she saw the truck come to a stop on Tremont and the driver got out and walked around the vehicle to check for damage before walking away.
The Crown requested the court consider a jail sentence of up to four months for the offence followed by probation and a fine, but the defence argued that Rogers panicked in the moment, which caused him to flee the scene.
Doug Lloy said his client’s pre-sentence report was positive in many aspects with him working at his own business and in a new relationship, as well as well building his own home.
“He has a lot of good stuff going on,” he said, adding his client first told officers that he parked his truck because of broken ball joints but later said he fell asleep at the wheel while driving.
“I was overworked, very tired and do this day I don’t know why I made that horrible decision and I regret it,” Rogers told the court when asked if he wanted to speak at his own sentencing.
Judge Del Atwood said the collision itself was on the minor side of severity since there were not any evidence of injuries brought forward to the court and damage to the vehicle was minimal. However, he didn’t buy Rogers argument that he panicked.
“I don’t accept the panic reaction. He had time to reflect on his course of action and with some degree of meditation and rational thought, he left the scene,” said Atwood.
“A witness said she saw him exit the vehicle and circle it. Mr. Rogers was checking the vehicle for obvious reasons to see how badly banged up it was. Driving off was a calculated action, not panic.”
