Man admits to role in hit-and-run
Posted By BOB BRUTON
Posted 2 months ago
A Barrie man could face a lengthy jail sentence and a decade without driving after pleading guilty to hit-and-run offences.
Alan H. MacDonald, 52, is guilty of failing to remain at the scene of a collision which caused bodily harm, driving while disqualified and breaching his probation. He pleaded guilty to these charges in a Newmarket court on Nov. 6.
Joseph Rochon, 32, of Elmvale, was seriously injured in the crash, which took place Feb. 8 at about 2:30 a. m., on Dunlop Street West near Highway 400.
Rochon was taken to St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto with a fractured skull, two broken ribs and a broken collarbone.
MacDonald is to be sentenced Nov. 25 in Superior Court in Newmarket.
Const. Cosmo Manna, of the Barrie city police traffic unit, says the Crown attorney is asking that MacDonald receive 30 months in jail, probation with alcohol abuse counselling and a 10-year driving prohibition.
"He's also a repeat offender," Manna said. "He's done this more than one time."
Manna has said MacDonald's previous convictions include three for impaired driving and another one for driving while disqualified. He was also prohibited from consuming alcohol.
The crash left Rochon with serious head
injuries. "
This is a young man . . . who did the right thing," Manna said of Rochon. "He was out drinking and decided to walk to a friend's house.
"He did the right thing and a bad thing happened to him, which is too bad."
Police say Rochon left a Cedar Pointe Drive bar and was walking toward an Innisfil Street house when he was struck from behind at between 60 and 70 kilometres per hour.
He may have bounced off the windshield, and the impact propelled him into a snowbank.
Rochon was found six hours later and rushed to Royal Victoria Hospital before being airlifted to Toronto.
Debris left behind at the scene was used to identify the suspect vehicle.
A search warrant was executed at 40 Boys St., where officers found a green 1996 Dodge Stratus in the garage, matching the vehicle police had been seeking. It had damage consistent with the crash investigation.
"I think the people (officers) who worked on this case did an amazing job," Manna said.
The vehicle was seized and sent to Toronto for forensic testing. A neighbourhood canvass also assisted in the police investigation.
MacDonald, who lives three blocks from the crash scene, was arrested and originally charged with eight counts of breach of probation, driving while disqualified and failure to remain at the scene of a collision (accessory after the fact).
bbruton@thebarrieexaminer.com
