Year in jail for drunk driver who crashed and set car on fire

A Brantford man who was driving drunk when he left a trail of destruction across the city was sentenced last month to a year in jail despite the crimes being his first convictions.

Jessie Michael Pemberton, 28, was out on bail on Oct. 15 last year, facing assault charges, when 911 calls began pouring in to police about his driving.

“This was extremely egregious driving and it put everyone at risk,” said Justice Kathleen Baker as she sentenced Pemberton.

Initially charged with 14 offences, Pemberton pleaded guilty to five of them, including arson by negligence, failing to stop after a collision, impaired driving, breaching release orders and assaulting an officer.

Baker was told that, late on the afternoon of Oct. 15, Pemberton was seen hitting a power box on Henry Street, causing a collision near Tim Hortons on Dundas Street, driving erratically and speeding, hitting another vehicle on Paris Road and then seeming to set his own car on fire near Conklin Crescent and Sky Acres Road.

That fire was especially dangerous, said assistant Crown attorney Tatiana Nickorick, because the vehicle became engulfed in flames and began to explode.

“It was in a residential area with a school nearby and civilians on the street,” Nickorick said.

“It demonstrates a clear lack of regard for public safety and, while the act of setting the vehicle on fire could have been reckless, I think it was done to destroy the evidence of the motor vehicle accident in an attempt to frustrate an investigation.”

Pemberton and his girlfriend – who he was not supposed to be in contact with – ran from the vehicle as it burned.

A police K-9 unit tracked the pair and found them in a taxi, trying to flee.

Pemberton spit on an officer while trying to resist arrest.

Police found the man was also a novice driver, on bail and suspended from driving at the time of the crimes.

At the police station, his blood-alcohol levels were found to be more than 140 mg of alcohol while the legal limit is 80 mg.

His bail terms also ordered that he not have weapons or more than one, properly registered cell phone. Pemberton was found with brass knuckles and two cell phones.

Nickorick and Pemberton’s defense lawyer Jesse Dostal agreed the man should receive a year-long sentence, largely due to Pemberton’s lack of a criminal record and his willingness to quickly plead to the offences.

“A trial of this nature would have required a lot of trial time with a lot of witnesses,” said Nickorick.

Dostal said his client was dealing with a serious alcohol addiction but the incidents have been a wake-up call.

“His time so far in custody has been good for him. He’s clean and sober. There are no excuses for what happened and he’s embarrassed by his conduct.”

“It was an incredible course of driving that put a lot of people at risk in the community,” said the judge.

“High speeds, accidents, not stopping and a car on fire created a huge risk to everyone in the area, and then assaulting an officer by spitting on them, which is a very degrading act … all very serious indeed.”

But the judge accepted the submission for a year sentence, minus the 140 days served, time enhanced to almost seven months for the usual pre-trial credit.

“I hope you take your rehabilitation seriously,” Baker said. “You’re going to have to make some changes.”

[email protected]

@EXPSGamble