Pansy man who hit cops with car gets 3 and a half years for 12 charges

A Pansy man who while out on bail drove stolen cars into police twice, injuring one officer and writing off a canine unit van, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years prison in Winnipeg court April 22.

Steven Paul Wiebe, 34, previously pleaded guilty in Steinbach court to 12 charges for three Southeast crime sprees in April and December 2023 that he told court were driven by a meth addiction relapse and gambling debt.

Sentencing was in Winnipeg because Judge Larry Allen is set to retire at the end of this month and was not scheduled to return to Steinbach after an administrative error with court sheriffs kept Wiebe sitting in Headingley Correctional Centre instead of Steinbach court April 4.

Wiebe had 32 prior criminal convictions including property crimes, multiple driving while impaired and prohibited, flight from police, and assault with a weapon.

He has 502 days in custody after his third crime spree and second run at police with a stolen car in 2023 meant he was denied bail. Those are worth 753 days on enhanced credit because they were before his sentence was given.

Incarceration will be followed by two years of probation that includes orders to attend counselling as directed by the probation officer after an assessment by the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba. Wiebe must also abstain from alcohol and drugs during those two years, and is prohibited from driving anywhere in Canada for three years

“I do not believe the sentence as set out is crushing nor do I think that this sentence should damper hope for rehabilitation for this offender,” said Judge Allen during sentencing.

Defence lawyer Crystal Antila argued that he should receive a conditional sentence to be served at home and in the community. She said he received a conditional sentence for a prior conviction and had probation to which he had abided by the rules of those sentences.

The judge denied that suggestion. But he wanted to leave some room for hope because Wiebe has successfully gotten sober again and achieved the highest level at the Winding River program in jail to deal with his addiction, which started in childhood.

Three crime sprees

Strike one

On April 14, 2023, around noon, St Pierre RCMP received a call of an abandoned Chevy Cobalt on a rural road in the RM of Hanover. Police came to the scene and noted the licence plate did not match the vehicle. As police were moving in towards the Chevy they noticed a SUV parked beside it.

Wiebe was standing next to the SUV and was throwing everything in his hands into the SUV. He then got in and drove away quickly leaving the trunk open. The officer began to follow the SUV and put his lights on. The SUV stopped and Wiebe jumped out of the vehicle and ran into a wooded area. The officer chased, yelling that it was the police.

More RCMP members came and contained the area and the police service dog was deployed and eventually Wiebe was found and arrested. When told he was under arrest he started to run again from police, but was later caught and placed under arrest.

Police found that the Chevy Cobalt was stolen from an autobody shop and the SUV had been stolen that morning from Morris and had a stolen Winnipeg licence plate.Wiebe had a driving prohibition at the time from June 2022.

He was released on bail.

For this spree, Wiebe pleaded guilty to failing to stop his vehicle for police, property obtained by crime over $5,000, property obtained by crime under $5,000, and operating a motor vehicle while prohibited.

Strike two

On Dec. 3, 2023, Wiebe was at Giant Tiger in Steinbach with his girlfriend when he was once again confronted by police. He had parked at Giant Tiger and entered the premises. A shopper noticed the car and thought it looked like a vehicle from Vita that had been reported stolen on Facebook.

She checked the licence plate on Facebook and confirmed it was stolen and called police.

Police came and set up a perimeter around the parking lot. When Wiebe and a 19-year-old female friend approached the car to get in, police blocked him in with their car. Wiebe’s girlfriend obeyed police and put her hands up while Wiebe got in the car and started it. Two constables came to the front and side of the car with their guns drawn and yelled for Wiebe to get out of the car.

Wiebe put the car in reverse, hitting the curb, and then into drive where he hit a parked vehicle multiple times and rammed the police vehicle, hitting one of the constables in the left leg and arm as he fled.

“At one point Wiebe’s fleeing vehicle knocked the officer off his feet and onto the hood of the vehicle,” described Judge Allen.

A year later the constable that was hit by Wiebe still had to go to physiotherapy and was dealing with the psychological trauma.

He escaped the scene and would not be found for over two weeks.

Wiebe was supposed to be living with his mother in Pansy as ordered by the court but chose to live a transient life instead.

For this spree, he pleaded guilty to mischief for driving into the business, assaulting the officer with the vehicle, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, and driving while prohibited.

Strike three

Wiebe was finally arrested by police and held in custody on Dec. 19, 2023, after they caught him with a stolen SUV from Lorette.

During this time, police became aware of Wiebe and that he might have firearms and might shoot himself or police.

The RCMP Emergency Response Team as well as police officers from Steinbach RCMP detachment were conducting surveillance on a home in Mitchell where they believed Wiebe was staying.

Shortly after 7 a.m., Wiebe was seen arriving at the residence in a stolen Mitsubishi SUV from Lorette. At 7:40 a.m., they saw him exiting the residence and tried to arrest him. Wiebe rammed the police service dog vehicle with the SUV while trying to get away and refused to get out of the Mitsubishi. Police used gas to get Wiebe out of the SUV and he was arrested after 10 minutes. The police dog service vehicle is a write-off with damages totaling $22,486. Neither the police dog nor officer were hurt.

Wiebe also pleaded guilty for not showing up to court on Oct. 24, 2023.