Multiple charges in snowmobile incident on Chemong Lake

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Multiple charges in snowmobile incident on Chemong Lake

Members of the Peterborough County Motorized Snow Vehicle (MSV) patrol attempted to stop a black Ski-doo near Baileys Bay on Chemong Lake on Saturday, January 21.

The adult driver and his passenger, a young child, were not wearing helmets and the driver ignored the officers directions. He turned back toward Baileys Bay and accelerated in an attempt to flee.

Police pursued the Ski-doo with speed reaching in excess of 100 km/h.

The suspect fled onto the grounds of Baileys Bay Resort to a trailer where the he jumped off the sled, leaving the child behind.

The officer followed on foot and a scuffle occurred on the deck and into the trailer. The male suspect continued to resist arrest until he was pepper sprayed and taken into custody.

The five-year-old child was not injured during the incident.

As a result of the investigation, Scott Milton McKenzie, 25, of Fort McMurray, Alberta has been charged for:

Dangerous Operation of a Motor Vehicle;

Escape by Flight;

Resist Arrest;

Two counts of Drive while Prohibited;

Fail to Stop for Police (MSVA);

Escape by Flight (MSVA);

Drive Motorized Snow Vehicle No Insurance (MSVA); and

Drive Motorized Snow Vehicle No Helmet (MSVA).

McKenzie was held in custody and was scheduled to appear at the Provincial Courts in Peterborough on Monday, January 23 for a Bail Hearing.

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Family wants answers over 5-year-old boy being on snowmobile without helmet in high-speed police chase on Chemong Lake

By SARAH DEETH Examiner Police Writer

Posted 3 hours ago

A Fenelon Falls family is demanding answers after their five-year-old grandson was involved in a high-speed snowmobile pursuit and then apparently left in the care of a teenager.

Deborah Cascadden is the maternal grandmother of the five-year-old boy riding on a snowmobile that was involved in the Jan. 21 police chase.

The boy was staying with her family that weekend, she said, when the boy’s father, a resident of Alberta, asked to spend time with his son before he returned home.

The family didn’t object. The boy was sent out with his father.

On Sunday Cascadden’s daughter got a call from the children’s aid society. The worker told her that her son had been involved in a police chase and had been in the care of relatives since Jan.

“They left our five-year-old grandson in the care of an 18-year-old girl who is not a blood relative. They just left him. I don’t get how something like that could happen.”

Deborah Cascadden

21, Cascadden said.

Peterborough County OPP said officers on snowmobile patrol tried to stop a man driving a snowmobile on Chemong Lake.

Instead of stopping the man drove off, police said. Officers pursued, reaching speeds of 100 km/h. Police said a five-year-old child was riding on the snowmobile during the chase, and neither the child nor the driver were wearing helmets.

The man abandoned his snowmobile, and the child, once he reached Bailey’s Bay Resort. Police said he was arrested after a short struggle with officers.

Cascadden said police have provided them with little information about the incident.

The family wants answers and Cascadden said they’ve been unable to get them.

Why did the OPP embark on a high-speed snowmobile chase across an icy lake, knowing that no one on that snowmobile was wearing a helmet?

Did officers know an unhelmeted child was also on that snowmobile?

Why have no child endangerment charges been laid?

“People get those charges when they leave a child in the car,” Cascadden said.

Adding to their worry was the fact that the boy had been left in the care of a teenager who no one knew particularly well, she said.

“They left our five-year-old grandson in the care of an 18-year-old girl who is not a blood relative,” Cascadden said. “They just left him.

“I don’t get how something like that could happen.”

She didn’t know what, if any, steps police took to ensure the boy was left in adequate care.

Cascadden said the family has been trying to get in touch with the OPP and sort the mess out.

They haven’t had much luck.

And neither did The Examiner.

When inquiries were made OPP Const. Iain McEwan, the detachment’s media relations officer, said he could offer no further information on the incident.

He said it was likely that officers didn’t see the boy on the snowmobile when they began their pursuit.

He pointed out that the boy was seated at the front of the snowmobile, likely hidden behind the man’s body.

McEwan couldn’t speak to what happened to the boy after the arrest was made. He did say the family should contact the detachment directly, rather than going through the media.

Scott Milton McKenzie, 25, was charged with dangerous driving, escaping by flight, resisting arrest and two counts of driving while prohibited. Under the Motorized Snow Vehicle Act he’s charged with failing to stop for police, escape by flight, driving a snow vehicle without insurance and driving a snow vehicle without a helmet.

He appeared in court Monday.

sdeeth@peterboroughexaminer.com

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Alberta man charged by snowmobile unit

By SARAH DEETH Examiner Police Writer

Updated 2 hours ago

An Alberta man faces several charges after engaging OPP officers in a high-speed snowmobile pursuit while an unhelmeted five-year-old relative was riding with him on the machine, Peterborough County OPP said.

Police said snow vehicle patrol officers tried to stop a Ski-doo near Bailey’s Bay on Chemong Lake in Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield Township on Saturday.

The driver and his passenger, the five-year-old child, weren’t wearing helmets, police said. The child was riding at the front of the machine. But the driver refused to stop, turning back to Bailey’s Bay and speeding off.

Officers followed. Police said speeds reached 100 km/h during the chase.

The driver reached a trailer at Bailey’s Bay Resort, police said, jumping off the Ski-doo and abandoning the child.

“But don’t risk their lives.”

Const. Iain McEwan

An officer followed on foot, police said, wrestling with the driver on the deck and in the trailer.

The man continued to fight police until he was pepper-sprayed, police said. The child wasn’t hurt during the ordeal.

OPP Const. Iain McEwan said the pursuit only lasted a short distance.

Snowmobiles are relatively stable while travelling on a flat surface, he said.

He wasn’t sure what provoked the man’s flight.

Police do expect people to use common sense when they’re travelling with little ones, he said, and a high-speed police chase puts a lot of people at risk.

Drivers make their own decision when it comes to stopping for police, he said, but children can’t.

“But don’t risk their lives,” he said.

He pointed out that this weekend was one of the best weekend’s for snow machine riding the region has seen this winter.

As a result, emergency services dealt with a number of snowmobile-related collisions and accidents.

A three-year-old boy was airlifted to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto on Friday after a snow vehicle he was riding on crashed in the former Mariposa Township. City of Kawartha Lakes OPP are investigating the collision and have no update on the boy’s condition.

On Sunday two snow machine riders had to crawl across the thin ice on Lake Scugog after their machines went into the water near Wakeford Rd.

The two riders were unharmed and were able to walk to safety after finding ice thick enough to hold their wait, police said. The Ministry of the Environment has been called, and police are investigating the collision.

Scott Milton McKenzie, 25, was charged with dangerous driving, escape by flight, resisting arrest and two counts driving while prohibited. Under the Motorized Snow Vehicle Act the he’s charged with failing to stop for police, escape by flight, driving a snow vehicle without insurance and driving a snow vehicle without a helmet.

He was to appear in court Monday.

During the weekend the Peterborough County OPP snowmobile patrol laid four Liquor Licence Act charges, issued two snow vehicle violations and charged one person for not wearing his helmet.

One man was also charged with driving with a blood-alcohol level exceeding the legal limit of 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

sdeeth@peterboroughexaminer.com

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