Man spends year in custody after police say he fled officer in Brampton, nearly hit pedestrian

A Mississauga man who once led officers on a 1,000 kilometre chase spent almost a year in custody after being arrested and charged with 19 offences for fleeing from officers in a separate incident in Brampton last year.

Officers attempted to stop a transport truck for a traffic-related offence in Brampton on March 10, 2023, Peel Regional Police said in a news release on Monday. But the driver, a 29-year-old man, allegedly fled, nearly hitting a pedestrian and speeding through multiple red lights.

After an "extensive investigation" by Peel's Safer Roads Team, the man was located at a local gas station and arrested.

Const. Richard Chin, a media relations officer with Peel Regional Police, said the arrest occurred on March 22, 2023.

At the time of the arrest, the man was operating a rental vehicle and allegedly impaired by drugs, police said in the release, and was also in breach of multiple conditions of release and two driving prohibitions.

The man was charged with 19 offences, including operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs, possession of heroin and methamphetamine, fleeing from an officer and identity theft.

"Due to the severity of these offences, his disregard for his conditions of release, and his history of fleeing from police, he was denied bail," the news release said.

Const. Chin said the man was kept in pre-trial custody until he recently pleaded guilty earlier this month to some of the 19 offences, and was sentenced to time served.

Prior to being arrested by Peel police, the man whom investigators referred to as a "prolific driving offender" had been arrested and charged for leading other police agencies on a pursuit that spanned approximately 1,000 kilometres and ended in Etobicoke, according to the release.

He also allegedly obtained fraudulent driving documents and continued to operate transport trucks and trailers in the GTA and other provinces, police said.

Deputy Chief Marc Andrews said in the release that residents want roads to be safer and police are responding.

The Safer Roads Team is "proactively working to disrupt street racing activity or responding to the dangerous behaviour of prolific criminal driving offenders these officers are having an impact," Andrews said.

"These strategies seek to prevent the tragedy which can result from dangerous driving behaviours and decisions by a few irresponsible people."