A 40-year-old Surrey man was sentenced Tuesday to 37 months in prison for leading police on a dramatic chase that started in Vancouver, wound through Richmond, ended in New Westminster and seriously injured a police officer and hurt a female driver.
David Bolton has also been banned from driving for five years for dangerous driving causing bodily harm in the April 24, 2012 incident.
Vancouver police contacted Richmond Mounties around 10:30 a.m. that day regarding a complaint about a stolen vehicle heading into Richmond. Local plainclothes officers in unmarked vehicles were guided to the stolen car by the OnStar system.
The suspect was spotted outside his vehicle in the Bridgeport area of Richmond, but he managed to slip back inside and rammed two police vehicles, injuring one of the officers, before speeding away in the stolen vehicle.
RCMP helicopter Air 1 was able to track the suspect who was heading toward New Westminster, but enroute struck a vehicle at River Drive and No. 5 Road, injuring the female driver, but fortunately not her four-year-old son.
Bolton then ditched the stolen car, and ran into a New Westminster dealership, where he tried to steal another vehicle, but was apprehended by New Westminster police without incident.
Bolton was convicted of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, and fleeing police and causing bodily harm. He also received six months in prison for possession of stolen property, and breaking and entering.