Summerside man sentenced for string of driving offences

SUMMERSIDE — A 33-yearold Prince County man was sentenced to five and a half months in jail for a spree of driving offences in summer 2020.

Harold Freeman Picard Preston pleaded guilty in Summerside provincial court recently to several driving and breach charges dating back to May 2020.

Crown attorney John Diamond read the facts into the record.

On May 9, 2020, Preston was in a single-vehicle accident. At 10:18 a.m. police, fire and ambulance got a 911 call about a vehicle in the ditch on Route 7. The car had veered across the road and ended up in the opposite ditch.

Police on the scene gave a roadside breath test, but Preston blew a zero, meaning he wasn’t impaired by alcohol.

Then he was given a field sobriety test, which he failed.

He was reassessed at the police station and failed again — the test found he was impaired by a stimulant and cannabis.

A blood sample was taken, and results came back Dec. 17, 2020. It showed Preston had 500 nanograms of methamphetamine per one millilitre of blood.

Then in Summerside on Aug. 21, 2020, at 5:20 p.m., Preston was seen driving a spray-painted black Chevrolet Epica with an Alberta licence plate.

Police tried to pull Preston over but he fled, running stop signs and driving between 75 and 85 kilometres per hour in downtown Summerside. Police found Preston on foot later and arrested him for flight from police.

On Aug. 30, 2020, police on Cedar Street saw a Jeep towing the same black Epica with a rope. The Epica now had a P.E.I. licence plate. Police arrested Preston for possession of a stolen item, the licence plate.

On Aug. 31, 2020, at

2:05 p.m., police saw the spray-painted black Epica. When the driver spotted police, he increased his speed and failed to stop at stop signs in downtown Summerside. Police turned on their lights and sirens, but the driver, Preston, didn’t stop. The Epica now had a New Brunswick

licence plate.

Preston fled police at speeds up to 80 km/h. A flagger in a construction site said Preston almost hit her. Preston was stopped, arrested and taken into custody.

He was charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle, flight from police and breaching an undertaking by driving the vehicle.

Judge Krista MacKay then heard guilty pleas for two charges of failing to appear in Charlottetown provincial court on Dec. 14, 2020, and Jan. 14, 2021, and another for failing to appear in Summerside provincial court Dec. 9, 2020, and March 17, 2021.

Before these charges, Preston had no criminal record.

Defence attorney Thane MacEachern said Preston’s former employer was happy with Preston’s work and is willing to hire him back as long as he’s not using drugs.

Preston read from a statement he had prepared and offered his sincere apologies.

“I put people in danger with my ignorance of the law and my actions,” he said, adding he is getting help for addictions issues in jail and is trying to access all of the programming available to him.

Judge Krista MacKay told Preston he put himself and others in danger.

Preston was sentenced to a total of 124 days in jail. He was given credit for 32 days he has spent in custody since his arrest on March 30. He will also be prohibited from driving for three years after his release from jail.