Man used car as weapon to chase teens, court hears

A Niagara man whose lawyer said was regularly tormented by a group of teenagers will return to court this fall for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to using his car as a weapon against the youths.

“The kids would come up to his house and peer into his window and taunt him,” defence lawyer V.J. Singh said Monday after Gene Carter pleaded in Ontario Court of Justice to assault with a weapon. “They would engage him, then run from him.”

On July 20, 2018, court heard, Carter confronted several teens and accused them of trespassing on his property in the Western Hill area of St. Catharines.

The 53-year-old man and the teenagers became engaged in a “yelling match,” which ended when Carter drove toward the group.

One teenage girl was struck in the leg by the vehicle.

The man continued to chase the teens in his car, driving over grass, gardens and ditches and uprooting several trees and shrubs.

A crowd began to gather as neighbours and sports teams practising nearby heard the events. Onlookers phoned police.

According to Niagara Regional Police, the driver returned to his home after the incident and refused to speak with law enforcement. Crisis negotiators and members of the tactical unit were called upon to mediate a surrender. He subsequently left his home and was arrested without incident.

Singh said the youths would ridicule his client “in any way they could.”

“On this day, he just lost it,” he told the judge. “I don’t think he was trying to run anyone over.”

He returns to court Sept. 18 for sentencing.