A Midway RCMP officer and a Grand Forks Search and Rescue volunteer ready a tarpaulin-wrapped Jason Gagnon for an airlift by a military helicopter Tuesday, Dec. 1. Photo courtesy of Grand Forks Search and Rescue

Man who led Midway RCMP on freezing steeplechase out of prison

The man had to be airlifted to safety after a Bridesville incident last December

  • Sep. 3, 2021 12:00 a.m.

A West Boundary man who led police on a spectacular chase last fall was released from jail last week, according to the provincial Crown.

Jason Roger Gagnon, 48, had served 89 days in custody leading up to Aug. 18, when he was sentenced at Penticton’s provincial court on a raft of property crimes, a weapons charge and one count of obstructing a peace officer, according to Dan McLaughlin, spokesperson for the BC Prosecution Service.

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With time served, Gagnon was sentenced to a day in jail and a year’s probation for obstructing a peace officer and possession of stolen property under $5,000, McLaughlin said. Online court documents show Gagnon was charged with those offenses in March. Both stemmed from crimes the Crown said were committed in Bridesville on Dec. 1, 2020.

Speaking to The Times on Dec. 2, Peters said he and a Bridesville civilian chased a suspected thief down a steep ravine near Fish Lake Road, after which the suspect had to be airlifted by a military helicopter.

Gagnon also pleaded guilty at his Aug. 18 court appearance to theft under $5,000 and possession of a weapon, for which McLaughlin said he was given eight days, with time served, plus a year’s probation. He then pleaded guilty to a breach of a release order, a breach of an undertaking and a second count of possession of stolen property under $5,000, all three of which he committed in Osoyoos, according to online court documents.

McLaughlin said those convictions netted Gagnon three 1-day sentences, with time served, plus a year’s probation.

As conditions of his probation, Gagnon was ordered not to sit in the driver’s seat of a vehicle and not to possess tools that could be used for a break-in. He was further ordered to stay away from the people he was convicted of stealing from, according to the court registry in Rossland.


 

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Grand Forks Gazette