A local man, wanting to come clean for an incident in Okotoks, Alta, eight years ago, appeared in Estevan Provincial Court on Monday to settle the matter.
Brian E. Threinen, who gave the court a Bienfait mailing address, represented himself in the matter. As the case had been waived over from Okotoks, transferring cases between jurisdictions generally requires a guilty plea, and that is what Threinen submitted for two charges.
One was for obstructing police, and the second was for impersonating of another person, his cousin.
Crown prosecutor Mitch Crumley laid out the joint submission between the Crown and Threinen. On April 1, 2011, a vehicle in Okotoks was observed speeding and without headlights. There were five people in the vehicle. The driver, Threinen, gave his name as Andrew T. Threinen, when it was in fact Brian E. Threinen. Andrew Threinen is Brian’s cousin, to whom Brian felt he bore some resemblance to.
He had consumed some alcohol; according to Threinen, not much, but enough to set off the roadside screening device and end up with the vehicle being impounded, something he did not want to happen.
Six or seven months after the incident, Threinen took it upon himself to discuss the matter with an Estevan police officer he had known for a long time, now-Sgt. Tyler McMillen. Threinen had felt he had done something stupid, and wanted to come clean and clear his cousin’s name. And he indeed did come forward.
The Okotoks RCMP conducted an investigation, including proving Andrew T. Threinen hadn’t been in Okotoks at the time.
But in the meantime, Brian Threinen had a head injury due to a motorcycle collision. He told Judge Michelle Brass he had forgotten about the proceedings as a result.
Step forward to 2019, and Threinen was recently pulled over. When this occurred, he was informed of the old, outstanding charges. He chose to clear them up.
When asked by Judge Brass if there was anything he wanted to say in his defence, Threinen said, “I was young. I was stupid.”
He said he had gone to Alberta on a holiday, but did not have a license. He had consumed two beers, and had his father’s truck. It was enough alcohol to get him a suspension, so he gave a false name.
Crumley had suggested fines of $250 and $500 for the respective obstruction and impersonation charges, for a total of $750. He had one prior impaired conviction, in 2013.
Brass accepted his guilty plea and the joint submission, and gave Threinen two months to pay the fine.
