The man who rammed into a West Shore RCMP vehicle following an attempted traffic stop won't be getting back behind the wheel anytime soon.
RCMP first attempted to stop the driver, identified as 24-year-old Zachary Stormes, on Metchosin Road near Latoria Boulevard. Police initiated a traffic stop shortly after noon on March 12, when they noticed the licence plate on his black Mitsubishi Eclipse was registered to a vehicle of a different make and model.
Stormes failed to stop for police and sped off. Officers opted not to engage in pursuit out of concern for public safety and instead began patrolling for the vehicle.
When officers encountered the vehicle 15 minutes later on Latoria Road, they attempted another traffic stop. This time instead of speeding away, the Mitsubishi driver opted instead to ram the police vehicle with his car, rendering it undrivable.
Officers encountered the vehicle for a third time at 1 p.m. on Desmond Drive, where Stormes attempted to flee when backing out of a driveway from an unrelated residence. “The officer directed the driver to stop, however, he did not,” said Cpl. Nancy Saggar in a press release.
“The officer then proceeded to break the driver's side window and remove the driver from the vehicle to ensure it did not flee a third time.”
Police say the driver who was bound by a release order to not be in possession of knives, was found to be carrying three knives. A 19-year-old passenger in the vehicle was released without charges.
On March 18, Stormes entered a guilty plea and was sentenced for dangerous driving and breach of a release order. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail followed by 12 months probation, with two years of driving prohibition, commencing upon release.
West Shore RCMP say the jail sentence is to be served consecutively with a 90-day sentence imposed that same day for an unrelated Victoria file.
“This was a dynamic situation that placed the public at risk," said Insp. Stephen Rose, officer in charge of operations at West Shore RCMP.
"The suspect was safely taken into custody without any member of the public being harmed. This is a testament to the stellar teamwork of our West Shore officers that were able to apprehend and promptly bring this accused before the court.”
