50 strikes and you're out?Career criminal collared by OPP boss Fantino has huge record |
While some U.S. states have a three-strikes-and-you're-out policy for criminals, there's one case in Ontario that is approaching 50 strikes and you are back out in no time.
I wish I were kidding. We are not talking bowling or baseball here.
Now if I tell you this 23-year-old's name, then I can't tell you he has 49 criminal convictions since 30 of them were levied while he was a youth.
"When we added them up, we couldn't believe it," said one court official.
You'd think somewhere between charges 41 and 45, hell, even somewhere between 25 and 30, the system would have come to the conclusion this is a career criminal and locked him up with two keys and put them wherever they hid Jimmy Hoffa. The problem for the court is he hasn't killed anybody.
Yet.
Until he does, or almost does, they can't keep him in jail for very long.
We wrestled with putting his name here since his 19 convictions as an adult is an awful lot. But it's the 30 he was convicted of before he was 18 that certainly led this thug to the Hall of Fame numbers he's heading for now.
I need to tell you about the total as both a young offender and as an adult to make the point that this guy is a walking time bomb. And that criminals in Texas and California would love it here.
I mean, think about it. A 50-conviction career -- and a lot of very serious ones too.
Anyway you cut it, the hood is nothing but a menace and, long before the Maple Leafs even make the playoffs again, will likely be on a street corner, or highway, near you -- unless someone can make a case he is a dangerous offender. If ever a guy's name should be on a dangerous offender application!
Although you may not get to know who he is, the police do. And certainly so does the court system.
His rap sheet is wild. Assault, assault with a weapon, assault police, escape lawful custody, uttering threats, unauthorized possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon.
Shall I go on? There's more. In fact, last week he was convicted in a Golden Horseshoe-area court with trafficking more than $8,000 worth of crack cocaine and possession of marijuana.
The judge was so outraged by the number he called him "an embarrassment" and made the point he was concerned what could come next!
On the drug convictions, the judge sentenced the man to 32 months -- with nine months already served, that means 23 months in the provincial system.
Since he has not been in the federal system, the judge's reasoning was this will provide more time behind bars than a penitentiary system which may parole a first-time offender faster.
"We criticize judges but I have to say this judge did the right thing," said OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino. "We appreciate the tough stand he took."
Now I know what you are thinking. Why is Fantino commenting on this? Well, it was his collar -- and that of his driver, Sgt. Jeff Dziepak.
Flashback to last November when they were on their way to a Crime Stoppers dinner in Ingersoll when a car blew by at 170 km/h -- 70 km over the posted speed limit on Hwy. 401.
Never a good idea around any cop. Particularly a bad idea around Fantino, who is a proponent of the new stunt-racing legislation.
"This guy went by us like a bullet and we did what police officers are supposed to do, we went after him," Fantino told Sun police reporter Chris Doucette at that time.
But this story was just getting started. First on the scene as backup were veteran Cambridge OPP constables Ken Upton and Ben Dekker.
Although 20-year veterans, Upton said, "Seeing our commissioner standing on the side of the 401 gets your heart rate up. We said to each other, we better have our hats. He is a big hat man."
And when they approached him they were glad they did because Fantino was "in his No. 1 dress (for a banquet) and he looked sharp."
Neither had met their commissioner before and were impressed with the arrest.
"I said to the (suspect) you are not having a good day," said Upton to the man about the prospect of being pulled over by Ontario's top cop.
His day was to get worse. Upon a routine inventory check of the about to be impounded car, Upton found bags of crack cocaine and marijuana.
"We immediately put him under arrest," he said, adding if not for Fantino and Dziepak "those drugs would have hit the street."
Fantino last night was reiterating that, saying, "This is a great example of just how effective our system of justice can be when we all do our jobs in the sole interest of the greater public good."
The only thing left outstanding now is the stunt-driving charge which is still before the courts.
With Fantino set to testify, can you say conviction number 50?
joe.warmington@sunmedia.ca
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