A Hamilton man who fled the scene of a collision with a wall at a Cambridge Wendy's drive-thru will be sentenced May 1 in a Kitchener courtroom after pleading guilty to dangerous driving this afternoon.
The man admitted to facts read out in court about two incidents that happened last May.
Shortly after 1 a.m. on May 8, 2024, the man was driving on Franklin Boulevard near Dundas Street South when he lost control of his silver 1998 Honda, jumped the curb, drove over the sidewalk and slammed into a wall at Wendy's causing about $50,000 in damage.
The driver fled north on Franklin Boulevard but surveillance video captured his license plate and a clear image of his face so that when police arrived they were able to match the photos to the registered owner.
Waterloo regional police attempted to contact the driver but were unsuccessful. Hamilton Police were contacted and an arrest warrant was issued later the same day.
Three days later, a WRPS member was driving south on Hespeler Road in the early evening when a vehicle passed by with "excessively loud" engine noise.
The officer ran the plates and discovered the owner was wanted on an outstanding warrant.
Police followed the suspect vehicle to the intersection of Water Street North and Coronation Boulevard and made eye contact with the driver who proceeded to accelerate down Water Street, passing through the the 40 km/hr school zone in front of Galt Collegiate Institute at 70 km/hr.
At the train bridge, the officer activated the cruiser's emergency lights to initiate a traffic stop and the suspect vehicle immediately sped up, fleeing past the train bridge and down the hill toward Park Hill Road.
The suspect blew through a red light at the intersection, nearly causing a collision with a black sedan passing through on the green light.
Police decided to discontinue the pursuit at that point, noting there were several pedestrians walking through the Galt core that evening.
The man was subsequently arrested by Hamilton Police.
He will be sentenced May 1 in Kitchener.
