A man who stole a truck and led police on a chase across the Lower Mainland has been sentenced to almost two years in prison.
Kelly Dean, 33, pleaded guilty to three charges related to the May 2023 police pursuit that started in Mission, saw Dean drive through yards and across lawns in Maple Ridge, and ended in a tunnel bored for a pipeline. There, Dean was subdued by an officer who shot him with several bean bag rounds.
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The incident started on May 13, as Mission RCMP started surveillance of a Ford F350 truck that had been reported stolen from Coquitlam in April. During an attempted traffic stop the night prior, the truck driver failed to obey police.
On May 13, Dean was driving on the Lougheed Highway to Maple Ridge when another traffic stop was attempted, after he turned down a dead-end street in Maple Ridge.
But Dean sped the pickup across residential properties to escape police, and they chose to give the vehicle space due to his dangerous and erratic driving behavior. An RCMP helicopter continued to follow him.
The chopper tracked the truck through Surrey, Coquitlam, Burnaby, Vancouver and Hope, with officers from multiple jurisdictions involved. Dean collided with a surveillance vehicle in an attempt to evade police near Hunter Creek Road in Hope.
Dean’s decision to drive into the tunnel for a pipeline under construction led to him being subdued by an Abbotsford Police officer, who used multiple shots of bean bag rounds to stop him, and placed him under arrest.
On Tuesday, April 2, in Vancouver Provincial Court, Dean was sentenced after pleading guilty to charges of possession of stolen property, flight from police, and driving while disqualified.
He was credited with 303 days for time served, and was to serve another 426 days in prison – for a total of two years, less a day.
Dean also has a five-year driving prohibition.
Charges of assaulting a police officer and dangerous driving were dropped.