The man charged with several offences in relation to a crash that caused significant damage and confusion now has a date for his trial.
Lee Curtis, 34, is facing criminal counts including impaired driving, assaulting a peace officer, resisting arrest, mischief over $5,000 and careless driving resulting from a collision with a power box at the Ponoka Tim Hortons on Jan. 24.
Curtis was not in Ponoka Provincial Court during the April 6 appearance, choosing instead to have his lawyer Rodney Clark represent him. Clark entered pleas of not guilty to all 10 charges that have been laid.
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It’s alleged that Curtis, the driver of a pickup that left the Ponoka Tim Hortons parking lot in an erratic fashion, eventually spinning out of control, taking out a nearby electrical vault. It’s also alleged the driver then attempted to attack Tim Hortons staff, after they had called police to report the collision. The incident caused a large flash and knocked out power to parts of Ponoka for several hours.
Curtis was arrested at the Co-op gas station shortly after RCMP arrived on the scene.
The judge only trial is scheduled for Dec. 11, 2018 in Ponoka Provincial Court and slated to take up nearly a full day.
Clark, in speaking to the case while setting the case for trial, noted that during the trial, his defence will not contest a few of the charges his client is facing. Crown counsel also admitted there remains a number of written disclosure documents that have yet to be received and those will be forwarded to the defence as it becomes available.