(file photo/ Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

Seven year sentence

Four more years behind bars for man who fired shotgun at police in pursuit

Sep 22, 2021 | 1:28 PM

A man who went on a crime spree that resulted in shots being fired at officers during a police pursuit in the North Okanagan has been sentenced to a seven year prison term, minus time already served.

Darwyn Sellars, 33, appeared in Vernon provincial court on Wednesday, Sept. 22, to be sentenced for a series of crimes committed on Dec. 2 and 3, 2019.

Darwyn Sellars (Submitted photo/Facebook/Darwyn Sellars)

According to the judge’s summary, the incidents in question began with Sellars breaking into a cabin near Merritt on Dec. 2, where he and a female companion stole two shotguns, two rifles, ammunition for both firearms, and a laptop. The residents returned to their cabin to find Sellars on the premises wielding the shotgun, and he threatened the residents before fleeing the scene.

The incident was reported to police, and later officers identified Sellars in a vehicle. Police tried to pull him over, and as he attempted to flee, another patrol car joined the pursuit. Sellars then made contact with the police vehicles and managed to evade the police, but not before officers took down the license plate number.

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On Dec. 3, police in Falkland received a report of a man stealing gas from a gas station, and the license plate matched the one on the vehicle Sellars was last seen driving.

Officers from the Vernon North Okanagan and Kamloops detachments, and an Emergency Response Team, were called to the area to set up road blocks and spike belts as police again tried to intercept Sellars.

He was identified driving on the highway by police, and then tried to impede the officers’ vehicle by slowing down and blocking their path. Another officer then became involved in the chase, and when Sellars did not stop officers tried to immobilize his vehicle.

It was then that Sellars brandished a shotgun, aimed it at one of the police vehicles, and fired it twice at police, missing the vehicle and the officers both times.

One of the officers returned fire through the windshield of their vehicle.

The pursuit continued as Sellars encountered a road block and hit a spike strip, puncturing one of his tires, but he did not stop and continued to flee from police on the highway.

He fired more shots at police, but missed each time, and officers returned fire.

Eventually, a tire separated from the rim of the Sellars’ vehicle, and he veered off into a farmer’s field near Westwold, where he came to a stop.

Police commanded that Sellars and the female passenger exit the vehicle with his hands raised.

The woman complied immediately, but Sellars remained in the vehicle for a few minutes before exiting. Police report he also failed to comply with commands and that he repeatedly dropped his hands to his waist band, and as there were concerns he had another firearm on his person, a police dog was deployed.

Sellars was bit by the dog, and continued to resist arrest when officers approached him, leading to him being kicked in the head and punched in the face.

Officers discovered and seized four loaded firearms in the vehicle, the shotguns and rifles stolen from the cabin, along with a number of items believed to be stolen, including live and spent ammunition.

Sellars was taken into custody, where he told police that he had been using crack cocaine, which led to his behaviours.

Sellars, who was on a ten-year firearm probation for a 2015 incident, pleaded guilty to charges of: using a prohibited or restricted firearm, flight from police, dangerous operations of a conveyance and possession of a firearm contrary to an order.

After reviewing the case, the judge looked at the mitigating and aggravating factors of the case.

The aggravating factors include Sellars’ criminal record, which includes 41 convictions, some of which involved dangerous driving, firearms, and multiple breaches of court orders. As a result of these offences, Sellars was on probation and on a firearm prohibition when the Dec. 3 spree occurred. Another aggravating factor was that Sellars targeted police officers during the incident. He also placed members of the public at risk while discharging a weapon multiple times and operating a vehicle on the highway.

The mitigating factors include the fact that Sellars has been diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and that he has entered guilty pleas in court and showed remorse by apologizing to everyone involved. The defence also argued that Sellars suffers from mental health problems, which should be considered when deciding the length of the sentence. Sellars is also an Indigenous man, and that special cultural considerations be taken into account, as identified in the Gladue Report. Sellars is also 33-years-old, and is considered relatively young and has good prospects for rehabilitation.

After reviewing the details of the case, the judge stated that Sellars has a history of repetitive violent crimes which requires him being separated from society. He sentenced Sellars to six years in prison for discharging a firearm with intent and one year in prison for the charge of possessing a firearm while prohibited, and those sentences will run consecutively.

The judge also sentenced Sellars to 90 days in prison for failure to stop for a police officer; six months for operating a conveyance in a dangerous manner; 60 days for driving while prohibited; 60 days for breach of probation for attending a beer garden; 60 days for breach of probation for failing to complete an apology letter; 60 days for breach of recognizance by failing to report; one year for breaking and entering; 60 days for failing to stop for a police officer; and six-months for operating a conveyance in a dangerous manner. All of these sentences will be served concurrently.

Sellars was also ordered to pay a $500 fine under the charge of driving while prohibited, which must be paid by January 1, 2026.

Though the global sentence for Sellars is seven years, he will not have to serve that in it’s entirety.

The judge found that Sellars had been in custody since Dec. 3, 2019 for a total of 658 days. Those days were awarded as credit, and as the Criminal Code outlines each day in custody prior to sentencing as counting as a day and a half, Sellars has 987 days credit.

The credit will be applied to the seven year sentence, which brings Sellars’ time left to serve down from 2,555 days, to 1,568 days, or just over four years.

The judge also handed down a lifetime prohibition to possess any firearms, crossbows, restricted or prohibited weapon, prohibited device, ammunition, and explosive substances.

The firearms and items stolen from the cabin on Dec. 2 will be returned to the rightful owner. All other stolen items seized during Sellars’ arrest will be forfeited to the Crown.