Road rage driver handed conditional sentence

Nearly a year to the day Joshua Wheatley was caught on camera running a man over in an apparent road rage incident, the 22-year-old has been given a conditional sentence for six months, including partial house arrest with a curfew.

Wheatley pleaded guilty in December to dangerous driving when South Simcoe Police said he ran into a pedestrian with his car, then sped off in early May of last year.

Wheatley, who is from Bradford, was also initially charged with assault with a weapon and flight from police. Those charges were withdrawn on Tuesday. Wheatley will then be on probation for 12 months and banned from driving for a year and a half.

The court heard the Barrie man hit by Wheatley’s car was trying to stop Wheatley from taking off after he said Wheatley backed his car into his vehicle along the ninth line while both were stuck in heavy traffic.

After hitting the man with his car, police said Wheatley then fled the scene and was eventually stopped along the 10th sideroad in Bradford, only to take off again and get boxed in by officers near the 10th line before finally being taken into custody.

The court heard the 35-year-old victim has since recovered from his injuries.

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Wheatley told the court last week he was in a manic state at the time of the crash because of a steroid he was taking called Trenbolone, which his lawyer told the court has been known to cause increased aggression and violent behaviour.

“I just think on any other day, this wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t taking that stuff…because that’s not me at the end of the day,” said Wheatley.

His lawyer told the court Wheatley wasn’t trying to hit the man who had jumped in front of Wheatley’s car before being struck.

The Crown told the court Wheatley was trying to take off from the scene and did nothing to avoid hitting the man.

The Crown says, “If someone is foolish or angry enough to get in front of your car…as a driver…you’ve got to use the brake pedal. And certainly, by the time the gentleman is on his hood, that’s an option. And it is not an option that is exercised.”

Adding, “Somebody has to be the adult in the room, and nobody was.”

The Crown concluded, “You can’t bring a gun to a knife fight, and you can’t use a car against - for lack of a better term - an unarmed pedestrian.”