A 24-year-old man from the West Shore is now doing jail time after escaping police numerous times in a vehicular pursuit through Colwood and Langford.
At around 12:11 p.m. on March 12th, West Shore RCMP attempted a traffic stop on a black Mitsubishi Eclipse that was displaying a licence plate registered to a different vehicle on Metchosin Road near Latoria Boulevard in Colwood.
Police say the driver did not stop for police and instead, drove away at a high speed.
In an effort to preserve public safety, West Shore RCMP say the officers involved opted not to follow, but to patrol the area instead.
Around 15 minutes later, police saw the Eclipse on Latoria Road near Goldspur Road.
Police say that as the officer attempted another traffic stop, the driver rammed the police cruiser with his Eclipse, leaving it undrivable.
At approximately 1 p.m. the vehicle was located again on Desmond Drive, where the driver attempted to flee for a third time as it was backing out of a driveway from an unrelated residence.
Police told the driver to stop, but he did not so an officer was forced to break the drivers side window and remove the driver from the vehicle so he would not flee a third time.
The driver, 24-year-old Zachary Stormes, was in breach of a release order which prohibited him being in possession of knives; however, three were found within the vehicle.
Police noted that there was a 19-year-old passenger in the vehicle with Stormes at the time but they were released because they were not found to be actively involved in the incidents.
“This was a dynamic situation that placed the public at risk,” said Insp Stephen Rose, Officer in Charge of Operations at West Shore RCMP. “The suspect was safety [sic] taken into custody without any member of the public being harmed.”
A week later, on March 18th, Stormes pled guilty to his offences and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, followed by a probation order for 12 months.
Additionally, the court imposed a driving prohibition for two years, beginning after his release.
Stormes now remains in custody and is currently serving his prison sentence.
