By Jasmine Franklin
On Jan. 20 a Ponoka man pleaded not guilty to charges linked with drunk driving and hitting a 13-year-old girl on her way to school.
Dwight Richard Pugh, 55, was not present in court when the plea was entered but a trial date was set for July 13 in Ponoka provincial court.
Pugh is alleged to have been driving a white Chevrolet pickup truck on Oct. 22 at about 8 a.m., when he struck the teen from behind as she walked southbound on 38th Street.
The girl was transported to the University of Alberta hospital by STARS air ambulance and was transferred to the Edmonton’s Stollery Children’s Hospital. She was released back home Oct. 25 after treatment for a torn spleen.
Pugh has been charged with impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, and operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of more than 80 milligrams per cent.
Man accused of assault with weapon pleas not guilty
A not guilty plea was entered into Ponoka provincial court Jan. 29 by Joshua Howse, a 21-year-old man charged with three accounts of assault — one with a weapon — and further breach of conditions.
Howse entered his guilty plea and a trial date was set for May 28. Three civilian witnesses will be called upon and the trial is scheduled for a two-hour duration.
It is alleged that on Oct. 25 Howse and a woman were at a bar in Ponoka then came home where the two began to argue. Police say the argument escalated and Howse pushed the woman. She pushed Howse and called the father of her children to come and remove them so they weren’t present for the fight.
When the man arrived, he and Howse argued and it is alleged Howse pulled out a butcher knife and threatened to chop him up with it.
Caught behind bars
A 25-year-old man was sentenced to 45 days in jail Jan. 29 after an incident led him to breach current probation orders and resisting RCMP.
Court heard that Gregory Lamarsh had substance abuse problems, especially with alcohol, for quite some time. A previous record showed Lamarsh was in a probation program designed to keep him away from alcohol and that he had attended a treatment centre in the past.
But that wasn’t a good enough excuse for the judge.
It’s alleged on Dec. 21, Lamarsh, breaching his orders of keeping the peace and not to consume alcohol had been drinking and began to act destructively in his grandmothers’ house.
His grandmother called Ponoka RCMP and upon arriving, Lamarsh resisted arrest.
Lamarsh told court he planned to enter back into a treatment centre located in British Columbia.