Spitting assault
A man who let road rage lead to violence and spitting received some heavy fines and a scolding from the judge.
Matthew Bulek pleaded guilty to one count of assault for the bizarre incident that started with little more than bad driving.
Bulek was driving on July 1 at around 2:30 a.m. when something prompted his rage. At a stop light he got out of his car, went over to another driver and slapped him in the head before spitting at him.
Bulek's lawyer was pushing the court for a conditional discharge, citing the completely out of character nature of the incident and the man's lack of criminal record.
Crown prosecutor Jeff Morrison told the court that ordinarily he asked for jail time for road rage offences and didn't believe the discharge was appropriate.
Judge Jeanne Burch agreed a discharge was inappropriate.
"From my perspective that is not the kind of assault that can just be shrugged off."
Burch sentenced Bulek to a $500 fine as well as six months probation with a condition that he take some kind of anger management counselling.
She said she hoped the counselling would help the next time he was agitated.
"It will help me to be satisfied that it won't re-occur."
Failed misdirection
A man who crashed his car while driving recklessly and then tried to pretend it has been stolen will pay for his deception with heavy fines.
Michael James Kramps pleaded guilty to one count of public mischief and one count of careless driving.
Public mischief is a criminal code offence and careless driving is a traffic offence.
Kramps came into the St. Albert detachment on Aug. 9 and reported his car stolen.
He said he had been at a party the night before and had left his car there and got a ride home with a friend. He said he returned to collect his car a few hours later and found it had disappeared. He told officer he had left the key in the driver's side door.
He also had scrapes on his forearms, which he explained as being from a fight he had been in.
Later that day, police got a call about a vehicle that had gone off the road on Riel Drive. The vehicle appeared to have left the road at a high rate of speed and had crashed into a wooded area.
Officer estimated it had travelled 80 to 120 metres off the road and would have flown about 20 metres in the air during the crash.
The car turned out to be Kramps' and police began to have suspicions about his version of events.
They talked to one of Kramps' friends who had brought him to the detachment who confirmed the story the next day and on Aug. 15.
On Oct. 9 police spoke with the friend again and the story changed. He said he and Kramps had left the party and raced around Riel Drive at speeds over 100 km/h before Kramps lost control and crashed.
Judge Jeanne Burch handed Kramps a $2,300 fine and a 90-day driving suspension. He received another fine of $750 on the public mischief charge.
Detective work
A man thwarted by the very victim of his crime pleaded guilty this week and was sentenced to 45 days in jail.
Terrance Lee Beyer, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of property obtained by crime.
Police were called on Nov. 26 when a man awoke to find his car door lock punched out and a collection of small items stolen.
After talking with the police, the victim decided to wander through the neighbourhood and came across a blue Aerostar van that was running with a man dozing inside.
When the man looked inside he saw Canadian Tire money and some tie-down straps, the same items stolen from his vehicle, and he called the police.
When police arrived they discovered that the licence plate on the van was also stolen.
Beyer admitted he had been driving his friend around as his friend broke into cars looking for valuables.
The Aerostar van was also uninsured and Beyer also pleaded guilty to that charge, which came with a $2,875 fine.
Beyer asked the court until June 1 to pay that fine.
Pizza bust
A man arrested following a drug raid at a local pizza place will have to hand over some dough.
Scott Bourget pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance for 89 grams of marijuana that was found in his restaurant's freezer when police raided Grandma Pizza Aug 1.
Bourget co-operated fully with police when they arrived and showed them to the freezer. In court, Bourget's lawyer said the marijuana was for Bourget's personal use and publication of the raid in the Gazette hurt his business.
Judge Jeanne Burch fined Bourget $200 for the marijuana and granted an order for forfeiture of the drugs seized.