High-speed chase makes way to Vauxhall/Hays

In Taber provincial court on Jan. 8, a 21-year-old local man pled guilty to flight from a peace officer. Peter Wolf was sentenced to 90 days of incarceration, one year of probation and a one year driving prohibition by Judge G.K. Krinke. A further charge of dangerous driving was withdrawn by the Crown.

Crown prosecutor Tyler Raymond read the facts of the case into the record. On Jan. 21, 2018 a vehicle being operated by the accused was observed by police driving northbound at a high rate of speed (157 kph) on Highway 36 near the Oldman River Bridge. Officers attempted to make a traffic stop, but Wolf failed to pull over and was witnessed passing other police vehicles at 146 kph. With the pursuit nearing Vauxhall, Wolf’s vehicle was clocked at 182 kph before he left the highway and proceeded onto a gravel road at speeds in excess of 160 kph, at which point police temporarily suspended the pursuit for safety reasons. This was later reinitiated on Highway 524 near Hays before Wolf finally stopped near the intersection of Highway 879 and was arrested in a high-risk takedown and charged with various offences.

Raymond would highlight that officers estimated Wolf had passed at least 33 vehicles at a high rate of speed during the course of an extended pursuit. It was also noted as an aggravating factor that the accused’s brother had been a passenger in Wolf’s vehicle at the time of the incident. Raymond would also tell the court that initially Wolf had failed to stop for police because “he didn’t want a speeding ticket.”

The accused had no previous criminal record. Wolf is being permitted to serve his sentence intermittently on weekends at the Lethbridge Correctional Centre.