A man serving six years in prison after a violent arrest in Red Deer was sentenced on Friday for the incident that he was wanted for in the first place.
Richard Allan Parkhurst, 50, pleaded guilty before Judge Bert Skinner in Red Deer provincial court to stealing a $60,000 truck and driving while disqualified.
Parkhurst was the subject of a Canada-wide warrant as the result of the theft on Jan. 10, 2013, of a one-ton pickup truck that was parked outside a Red Deer store.
Crown prosecutor Brittany Ashmore said the truck was locked with the keys left in the ignition. A witness recognized Parkhurst and reported seeing him take the truck.
Parkhurst was arrested a few weeks later at Tervita Metals in the Edgar industrial subdivision.
Staff at the recycling plant notified Red Deer City RCMP on Feb. 1, 2013, of a suspicious man attempting to sell questionable materials for salvage.
Parkhurst parked the truck inside to make his delivery.
When police arrived, he struggled with officers, threatened to shoot them and smashed the truck through a bay door.
In the yard, he rammed at least two police cars before getting wedged between a pipe and one of the cars. Smoke was rising from the truck’s spinning wheels when police were finally able to pull Parkhurst from its cab.
He was sentenced to 72 months in prison and prohibited from driving for life by Judge Gordon Yake after pleading guilty to 12 of the 17 charges against him in Red Deer provincial court in early December 2013.
Defence counsel Greg Gordon, in a joint sentencing submission with Ashmore, suggested a sentence of six months on each of the older charges, to be served concurrently with the sentences Parkhurst is now serving.
The original charges were to have been dealt with at the same time as the others, but were deferred until Friday.
Skinner accepted the submissions and sentenced Parkhurst to six months on each charge, to be served concurrently with the previous sentence.
He advised Parkhurst that the court views the theft as especially serious because he had taken a work truck that was carrying the owner’s tools and equipment.
“When you take a vehicle, you also take a person’s ability to work,” he said.
Skinner also remarked on Parkhurst’s lengthy criminal record.
He commented to Parkhurst that any efforts he has been making to connect with his son and granddaughter will be difficult: “You are serving a life sentence on the installment plan.”
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com