By Troy Gillard (Twitter: @Troy_Gillard)

Jail time for Nanton man in wild 2016 police chase

May 15, 2018 | 11:06 AM

A man who led local Mounties on a wild chase nearly two years ago will spend just over a year behind bars.

Gregory Whitford, 37, of Nanton was facing a total of 13 counts in relation to the series of events that took place July 6, 2016.

Officers that afternoon noted a suspicious 2007 black Ford F350 near Parkland Drive in Sylvan Lake that had sustained some type of front end damage to the front driver’s side wheel. The officer ran a check of the license plate on the truck and found that it did not match.

The lone occupant of the truck jumped into the driver’s seat when he saw the officer approaching and purposely tried to hit the member while fleeing the scene. The member was able to jump out of the way, avoiding any injuries.

Despite having no front wheel on the driver’s side, the truck sped off through Sylvan Lake, eventually going on to Highway 11A, through Poplar Ridge and into the Burnt Lake Industrial Park. The truck then headed westbound on Burnt Lake Trail and eventually stopped at Range Road 283 where the driver was finally arrested. The truck was later found to have been stolen from the Rimbey area on July 2.

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Whitford pleaded guilty on May 9 to four counts including assaulting a police officer, flight from police, possession of stolen property over $5,000 and possessing identity documents belonging to another person. He was sentenced to a total of 13 months in jail followed by 12 months’ probation. He was also fined $800.