Further details of incident unfolding
From Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019
TRURO, N.S. - The driver of a stolen vehicle who was shot and killed in Truro, after striking and injuring an RCMP of cer, had only recently been released from jail for threatening to kill a judge.
Although the identity has not been of cially released, Saltwire Network has learned the man who died after being shot by the RCMP of cer early Saturday morning is Mitchell Anthony Speight, 22, of Amherst.
Speight, who has a long criminal history, was driving a car stolen from Amherst when he failed to stop for an RCMP of cer, who attempted to stop him after exiting his police cruiser on Willow Street. The stolen Kia left Willow Street and crashed through a fence at the entrance to the Cobequid Trail beside the Service Canada building.
The badly damaged car ended up on its side after striking several large fence posts a short distance up the trail.
RCMP Const. Ben Goodwin was placed under a medically induced coma to reduce brain swelling, but has since regained consciousness.
The matter is being investigated by the province’s Serious Incident Response Team. On Monday, SIRT director Felix Cacchione told media the of cer red the fatal shots from the hood of the stolen vehicle after being struck by the driver, who had accelerated to a high rate of speed.
The of cer struck his head when the vehicle crashed.
Speight was sentenced on June 26 in Amherst by Judge Paul Scovil to a further 30 days in jail after being convicted of uttering threats to cause death to provincial court Judge Al Bégin, of Truro, who had previously refused to release him on bail.
Several other charges, including breach of probation, failure to comply with a court recognizance and intimidation of a justice system participant were dismissed at the time of his sentencing.
He was released from custody on July 30.
In May, Speight was sentenced in provincial court in Antigonish to eight months in jail after pleading guilty to possession of stolen property (an ATV), ight from police, driving while disquali ed and eight counts of breaching court recognizances, seven of which were from Amherst. The eight-month sentence was reduced to three months after Speight was given credit for time he spent in jail while on remand.
Last September, Speight was given a suspended sentence in Truro and was placed on probation for 18 months after pleading guilty to stealing a vehicle last February from a Pictou Road gas bar, while the owner was paying for his fuel. He also pleaded guilty at that time to operating a vehicle in a dangerous manner and to operating a vehicle while his licence was disquali ed.
He was spotted a short time later on Robie Street in Lower Truro by of cers on patrol. When they attempted to stop the vehicle, however, the driver left the area at a high rate of speed, at which point police called off the pursuit. Speight was arrested by the RCMP a short time later in the area of Hwy. 311 in North River.
Speight’s criminal record also predates those offences.