Suspect runs over a Mountie on a stolen truck
The man who ran over and killed a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer in Saskatchewan had been sentenced to 18 years in prison on Thursday for the 2021 incident.
Alphonse Stanley Traverse, 44, must serve just under 14 more years, as the court credited him for time he has already served on remand, according to a report from the Regina Leader-Post.
On June 12, 2021, Traverse put an end to the life of 26-year-old Const. Shelby Patton.
Last year, Traverse pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Patton’s death, noted CTV News.
The sentence of 18 years falls short of the life sentence requested by the Crown, but is lengthier than the 16-year sentence requested by the defence, according to the Regina Leader-Post.
Even the defecnce’s request is longer than the general range for manslaughter, which is four to 12 years.
In coming up with the final sentence, Associate Chief Justice Michael Tochor, of Regina’s Court of King’s Bench, accounted for Gladue factors that impacted Traverse, who is an Indigenous man, according to Regina Leader-Post. These include factors such as racism, poverty, addiction, colonialism and impact of residential schools, which a judge must consider when determining a sentence.
“Here I conclude the Gladue factors experienced by Mr. Traverse do not significantly bear on his moral culpability,” Tochor said.
Conts. Shelby Patton’s death
On June 12, 2021, Traverse and a woman were driving to Saskatchewan from neighbouring Manitoba to play VLTs. VLTs were closed in the couple’s home province due to pandemic restrictions at the time.
Then, their vehicle broke down and they stole one near the community of Pipestone, Man, according to CTV News.
Patton then pulled over the suspected stolen vehicle and asked Traverse to get out of the truck. That entire encounter lasted 18 seconds before Traverse started the vehicle to drive away, according to CBC.
Patton then jumped onto the truck’s running board. As Traverse drove, Patton fell from the vehicle and was run over by the truck's rear wheels. The Mountie died of blunt force trauma virtually immediately, according to Regina Leader-Post.
Traverse and the woman had also been using crystal meth, reported Global News, citing an agreed statement of facts from the court.
Traverse also pleaded guilty to stealing a vehicle. For that, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, to be served concurrently with the sentence for killing Patton.
‘Focus on the safety of police officers’
Following the sentencing Melanie Patton, the Mountie's mother, said that she is relieved with the prison time handed to Traverse, though she had hoped for a longer sentence.
She also urged for more efforts to keep police officers safe.
"I think the important thing here is to focus on the safety of the police officers who are out there trying to serve and protect us as a community," she said, according to CBC.
“If we don’t have these people out there protecting us, what do we have left? I think that this kind of help sets the precedents for that,” she said in the CTV News report.
Rhonda Blackmore, assistant commissioner of Saskatchewan RCMP, has said the service is actively reviewing its principals around officer safety, CTV News also noted.
“One of our principals, what we call our tactile principals, is that police officer safety is essential to public safety,” she explained in the report.. “We are constantly reviewing areas where we can improve our public safety for our members and making sure they are as safe as possible out there.”
