Fuchsia Dragon | [email protected]
A man caught using a drone to snap pictures of a black bear walking along train tracks in Jasper National Park will soon be sentenced in court.
Pieter Willem Keijzer admitted to contravening two Parks regulations: operating a drone in a national park and disturbing wildlife.
On August 29, 2018, a 鈥渂ear jam鈥� had gathered on Highway 16 near Jasper鈥檚 airstrip, about 10 minutes east of the townsite, after a black bear was spotted on the train tracks, Jasper court heard on Thursday.
Two members of the public stopped park wardens and told them they had seen a white coloured drone following the bear, hovering a short distance above it.
鈥淭he bear appeared to be getting away from the drone,鈥� said Federal Crown prosecutor Ian Ross. 鈥淚t followed the bear and then flew to a man by a large RV. The man picked up the drone and carried it to the RV.鈥�
Ross said the witnesses took pictures of the drone following the bear and of the RV the man left in.
Wardens investigated and found the RV was registered to a woman in Kimberley, BC, the partner of Keijzer.
Ross said: 鈥淧olice found social media indicating they were in a relationship and had taken a trip to Jasper in the time period in question. He had posted more pictures on Facebook of family trip in the Rockies.鈥�
One of Keijzer鈥檚 pictures was an aerial shot of a black bear on a section of rail track where the incident was reported.
Ross said Keijzer was interviewed on the phone and he admitted being in Jasper but not flying a drone. He said he didn't have a drone but thought 鈥渢hey were pretty cool.鈥�
Ross said Keijzer then claimed he had talked to someone else at the bear jam who had given him a USB stick with the drone pictures.
Police had doubts about Keijzer鈥檚 statement and after further investigation, which turned up more aerial pictures of wildlife in Jasper, he was charged and has now pled guilty.
Ross said: 鈥淭hese offences are serious in themselves.
鈥淣ational parks provide refuge for wildlife where they can be free and hopefully unmolested by human interference. Regulations are very important and when people contravene and bother wildlife there needs to be a tough penalty by the courts.鈥�
Ross recommended fines of $1,500 for disturbing wildlife and $1,000 for the drone, citing cases as reported by The 51暗网 in October 2017 and October 2018.
Richard Ireland, defending Keijzer, said Keijzer had travelled up the Icefields Parkway from Lake Louise and believed he had exited the national park system when he used the drone.
Ireland said: 鈥淗is three nieces from Germany had never seen a bear before so it was quite exciting and he used the drone to try to get photographs.
"He said the bear was nonplussed by the drone. He took pictures but the bear was no more disturbed by the drone than the 50 other people in the vicinity, the cars, or the railway tracks.
鈥淎ll of this, and he was singled out as the one disturbing the bear.鈥�
Ireland said Keijzer is someone who 鈥渄eeply respects鈥� national parks and 鈥渙ften picks up cans on the highway and donates the money.鈥�
He said Keijzer, who cleans condominiums, has a low income and 鈥渁s well as the punishment fitting the crime, the punishment should also fit the criminal.鈥�
Judge V. Myers accepted Keijzer鈥檚 guilty pleas and adjourned the case until May 9 for sentencing.
Thank the flagger
Flagged down by a pedestrian who said a 鈥渉ighly intoxicated鈥� man was about to drive away, Constable Patrick Vallee gave chase.
Nickolas Pozarski had left Jasper Brewing Company just before midnight on May 7 last year.
When Vallee caught up to him and conducted a traffic stop, he smelled liquor on the man鈥檚 breath and demanded a roadside test, Jasper court heard on Thursday.
Pozarski failed the test at 12.21am and was arrested and taken to Jasper detachment where two further samples of breath were taken.
The lowest reading was 140mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.
Pozarski pleaded guilty to over 80 and will return to Jasper court on May 9 for sentencing.
The bartender is watching
A tip-off from a bartender to an off-duty cop led to another drunk driving conviction in Jasper.
On February 20 Constable Mathieu Belliveau was contacted by the off-duty RCMP member, who said a bartender from the Whistle Stop called him to report an impaired driver had left the bar.
Belliveau was told the person left the bar, got into a Dodge Ram truck and was heading east towards Hinton, Jasper court heard March 28.
Belliveau caught up with the truck and found it pulled over in a parking area by the transfer station.
Prosecuting, Phil LeFeuvre said: 鈥淣evertheless, he drove to get there. At that point he was parked but still occupying the driver鈥檚 seat.鈥�
LeFeuvre said Belliveau immediately smelled alcohol on Wallace Macpherson and demanded a roadside test, which he failed.
Macpherson was taken to Jasper detachment where further breath samples were taken. The lowest reading was 150 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood.
Macpherson, from Britsh Columbia, pleaded guilty to over 80.
The court heard that the 57-year-old had two prior convictions for over 80 in Prince George in 1981, and in Calgary in 1994.
He was fined $3,000 and banned from driving for one year.
Slow down, cowboy
A man clocked at 171 kilometres per hour on the Icefields Parkway has had his licence suspended.
James Michael Vigh was driving north on Highway 93 by the Athabasca Lookout when he passed Const. Dave McKenna, Jasper court heard. It was just days after six people had been killed in a fiery head-on collision, and not far from the impact site on the same stretch of road.
McKenna saw the Dodge Caravan was travelling at a high rate of speed and clocked Vigh at 171 km/h. He slowed to 146 km/h after passing the police officer.
鈥淢cKenna turned and closed down on the suspect quickly,鈥� said LeFeuvre, prosecuting.
And when McKenna was pulled over looking up Vigh鈥檚 details, a pickup truck pulled over and another driver said that the minivan pulled over had passed him on a double yellow line and he was concerned.
鈥淎s a result, he was charged,鈥� said LeFeuvre.
Vigh pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention at court on Thursday. He was fined $2,500 and banned from driving for 60 days.
Sentencing him, Judge V. Myers said: 鈥淚 can鈥檛 tell you how many people die at speeds like this.
"Slow down, cowboy.鈥�
