A Delburne area man chased by police at speeds of up to 220 km/h on Hwy 2 was dealt a hefty fine in Red Deer court on Tuesday.
Tanner McKay Schalin, 22, pleaded guilty to three charges and was fined a total of almost $9,000 when he appeared in provincial court.
He pleaded guilty to failing to stop for police, driving with no insurance and driving while unauthorized.
Court heard that Schalin was suspended at the time for having too many demerit points.
Schalin was first spotted on radar near Leduc speeding at 170 km/h on a motorcycle, Crown prosecutor Yasifina Somji told Judge Jim Hunter.
When the officer attempted to stop him around 7:40 a.m. on May 28, Schalin slowed to about 50 km/h but then sped up again, hitting 220 km/h, or twice the speed limit, for a short distance before veering off into Leduc.
Police abandoned the pursuit when one of their vehicles hit 200km/h.
In Leduc, Schalin ran two red lights before he was spotted again.
He had stopped when the drive chain came off.
Schalin, who also had his driver’s licence suspended for a year, was fined $5,750 for fleeing police, $2,875 for no insurance and $345 for driving while suspended.
Four other charges were withdrawn by the Wetaskiwin Crown, who agreed to waive the charges to Red Deer for guilty pleas.
Defence lawyer Gordon Yake said his client “panicked” when he was spotted by police because he was speeding and a suspended driver. He also said he co-operated with police.
“He wasn’t panicked when he was doing 170 km/h,” Hunter said.
Yake said Schalin’s action “were out of character” since he was honoured in Kindersley in 2009 for his community involvement and volunteer work as a goalie with the Junior A Kindersley Klippers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
Hunter told Schalin that there’s no highway in Canada designed for the speeds he reached.
“No doubt you co-operated right away since you were surrounded by three officers,” Hunter added.
Hunter also said this was probably the “stupidest thing” the accused will ever do.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com