foster
03-16-2005, 12:08 PM
From our local newspaper this morning: :cry:
A small-town Santa Claus parade turned to terror last December when two drunken ATV drivers arrived on the scene, a judge heard Tuesday.
A RCMP officer who stepped in front of the first vehicle on Dec. 4, 2004, ended up splayed across it as it accelerated down the street.
"I remember saying 'will you stop this ATV before you kill me,' " said Const. David Hanson at a sentencing hearing for 40-year-old David Troy Hanlon.
A nurse who saw the Mountie as the ATV accelerated toward a parked truck thought he would end up paralyzed.
Another witness recalled hearing a young girl screaming "Mommy, Mommy they killed him."
Hundreds of people were at the corner near Hampton's 19th-century courthouse in what looked like a scene from Currier and Ives, said Lois Moore, an emergency room nurse.
Then the ATVs arrived from the nearby railroad tracks. Witnesses on the ground said the drivers were bouncing their bikes at the crowd and motioning with their hands to get them to move.
When Const. Hanson stepped in front of the machines, the front driver pulled his visor down over his face, turned up the accelerator and sped toward him.
"The next thing I knew I was on the front rack of the ATV," he said.
The officer heard the engine revving and reached for the handles to try to squeeze the brakes to slow it down but realized he couldn't do it because the driver's hands were in the way.
He then started jerking the handles and told the driver to stop, which he did several seconds later.
The crowd rushed forward and grabbed the driver, who turned out to be Mr. Hanlon. The officer took him into custody and placed him in the back of a police car. The other ATV driver got away.
Mr. Hanlon has been in jail since Feb. 1, 2005, when he pleaded guilty to impaired driving and was sentenced to 90 days. He was also charged with using an ATV as a weapon to assault a police officer, dangerous driving and driving while prohibited.
In February he said he hadn't intended to run down the officer, so sentencing was adjourned until Tuesday to bring in witnesses.
Provincial Court Judge Henrik Tonning noted that this was Mr. Hanlon's fourth impaired driving charge. He sentenced him to four months each on the three charges for a total of 12 months, but made it concurrent to the 90 days Mr. Hanlon is already serving.
In January Mr. Hanlon checked himself into the Ridgewood Addiction Treatment Centre for three weeks but left still believing he could drink occasionally, said his lawyer Gerald McCracken.
In the summer of 2003 Mr. Hanlon pleaded guilty to an impaired driving charge and was on an 18-month suspension when this incident took place. The judge prohibited him from driving for another three years for the latest incident
"To drive impaired in a community parade with children running to and fro is beyond the pale," said the judge.
A small-town Santa Claus parade turned to terror last December when two drunken ATV drivers arrived on the scene, a judge heard Tuesday.
A RCMP officer who stepped in front of the first vehicle on Dec. 4, 2004, ended up splayed across it as it accelerated down the street.
"I remember saying 'will you stop this ATV before you kill me,' " said Const. David Hanson at a sentencing hearing for 40-year-old David Troy Hanlon.
A nurse who saw the Mountie as the ATV accelerated toward a parked truck thought he would end up paralyzed.
Another witness recalled hearing a young girl screaming "Mommy, Mommy they killed him."
Hundreds of people were at the corner near Hampton's 19th-century courthouse in what looked like a scene from Currier and Ives, said Lois Moore, an emergency room nurse.
Then the ATVs arrived from the nearby railroad tracks. Witnesses on the ground said the drivers were bouncing their bikes at the crowd and motioning with their hands to get them to move.
When Const. Hanson stepped in front of the machines, the front driver pulled his visor down over his face, turned up the accelerator and sped toward him.
"The next thing I knew I was on the front rack of the ATV," he said.
The officer heard the engine revving and reached for the handles to try to squeeze the brakes to slow it down but realized he couldn't do it because the driver's hands were in the way.
He then started jerking the handles and told the driver to stop, which he did several seconds later.
The crowd rushed forward and grabbed the driver, who turned out to be Mr. Hanlon. The officer took him into custody and placed him in the back of a police car. The other ATV driver got away.
Mr. Hanlon has been in jail since Feb. 1, 2005, when he pleaded guilty to impaired driving and was sentenced to 90 days. He was also charged with using an ATV as a weapon to assault a police officer, dangerous driving and driving while prohibited.
In February he said he hadn't intended to run down the officer, so sentencing was adjourned until Tuesday to bring in witnesses.
Provincial Court Judge Henrik Tonning noted that this was Mr. Hanlon's fourth impaired driving charge. He sentenced him to four months each on the three charges for a total of 12 months, but made it concurrent to the 90 days Mr. Hanlon is already serving.
In January Mr. Hanlon checked himself into the Ridgewood Addiction Treatment Centre for three weeks but left still believing he could drink occasionally, said his lawyer Gerald McCracken.
In the summer of 2003 Mr. Hanlon pleaded guilty to an impaired driving charge and was on an 18-month suspension when this incident took place. The judge prohibited him from driving for another three years for the latest incident
"To drive impaired in a community parade with children running to and fro is beyond the pale," said the judge.