A man accused of dangerous driving, possessing prohibited weapons and obstructing a police officer and breaching bail has lost a 90-day bail review in B.C. Supreme Court.
A Surrey provincial court judge ordered Mark Edward Leppington, 30, to be detained on Dec. 12, 2019.
Justice Paul Riley presided over the bail review in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, concerning charges related to last June 18 and Oct. 31.
“The Provincial Court Judge did not have confidence that Mr. Leppington would abide by the proposed terms of release, and thus the risk to the safety of the community could not be brought down to an acceptable level,” Riley noted.
He upheld the provincial court judge’s decision. “Looking at things objectively,” Riley said, “I do not have confidence that Mr. Leppington will abide by the terms of his release given his abysmal history of performance on similar forms of release in the past, taken together with all the other information in the record.”
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Riley heard police had been following a Ford F350 pickup truck that was reported stolen to a property in Surrey where two men stepped out of the truck and then loaded scrap material into the back of an Econoline van.
Police then followed it to a recycling depot. There was a chase, with the van running through at least one red light before stopping at a residence.
“The driver, alleged to be Mr. Leppington, got out of the van, ran into the residence, and then out of a window into the back yard, where he was arrested,” Riley noted in his reasons for judgment.
Riley also noted charges related to Oct. 31 including mischief to property, vehicle theft, dangerous operation of a vehicle, fleeing police and obstruction.
The court heard the owner of a Surrey business reported suspicious activity around his premises, police showed up with lights and sirens and an SUV that had been reported stolen several days earlier sped off, drove through a red light and smashed into another vehicle, and then a concrete median. The two occupants of the SUV ran away.
Riley ordered another bail review for Oct. 5.
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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