A man responsible for a serious hit and run while intoxicated was sentenced to 15 months in jail at the Penticton Courthouse last week after pleading guilty to hitting and injuring a cyclist on a downtown Osoyoos street one year ago.

Steven Troy Fields, 29, pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing bodily harm and failure to stop at the scene of an accident in relation to an incident that took place in Osoyoos in late May of 2014.

Besides  a 15-month prison term, Fields was also placed on probation for 21 months and was handed a three-year prohibition from operating a motor vehicle anywhere in  Canada.

Court heard that Fields admitted to having consumed a significant amount of alcohol when he got behind the wheel of the Jeep Cherokee that hit a teenager who was riding a bike around 10 p.m. the evening of May 29, 2014.

The incident took place at the corner of 87th Street and Main Street in downtown Osoyoos.

Fields told RCMP officers that he didn’t see the cyclist until it was too late, however, several other witnesses, including two females who were passengers in the vehicle being driven by the accused, offered valuable information which contradicted information he had given to police.

The teenage victim suffered fractures to his spine and ribs, a serious tear of his left ear, as well as numerous cuts and bruises as a result of being hit by the vehicle and then being dragged for several metres. The victim was transported to Penticton Regional Hospital and then was moved to Kelowna General Hospital for surgery.

Court heard that Fields had told police that he didn’t stop at the scene because he didn’t know how to perform first aid.

A police investigation discovered that Fields had attempted to purchase alcohol from two separate liquor outlets in Osoyoos prior to the accident and that staff at the first store had refused to serve him.

In handing down his sentence,  Justice Brad Chapman noted that the front license plate on the accused’s vehicle had fallen off as a result of the collision and was left at the scene and that Fields has attempted to get a new plate and informing government officials that his had been stolen.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times