Trial date set for police chase suspect
A 35-year-old man facing charges in connection with a police chase almost a year ago near Vulcan is set to have a trial this spring.
It’s the third time Tyrone Michael Emblau has been scheduled to stand trial on some 18 charges. The previous two times, last October and last month, had to be cancelled after Emblau fired his lawyers and the Crown realized more trial time would be needed than was originally estimated.
Emblau, who will now defend himself, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include assaulting a peace officer, flight from police, dangerous driving and possession of stolen property over $5,000. A trial had been set for July 30, but Tuesday during a hearing in Lethbridge provincial court Judge Derek Redman rejected that date and instructed the Crown to find an earlier one. Although the trial is now set for May 6, Redman instructed the Crown to continue looking for an earlier date.
Emblau, who appeared by closed-circuit TV from the Lethbridge Correctional Centre, told court he and his witnesses have been prepared for trial since October.
On March 21 Vulcan RCMP responded to a report that a snowmobile had been stolen from a location near the Village of Champion at about 5:15 a.m. that day.
Residents who witnessed the offence directed an officer to a suspect who was found hauling the stolen snowmobile with a stolen Nissan truck. After the officer pulled the driver over they began to fight and the suspect managed to get away. Additional RCMP officers followed the truck until it became stuck in a field. The driver then took off on the snowmobile and was chased by other officers, also on snowmobiles.
A Calgary police helicopter pilot spotted the snowmobile stuck in a stand of trees several kilometres from the abandoned truck and trailer, and a police dog tracked the suspect and he was arrested. He was taken to hospital and treated for injuries sustained when he crashed into a tree with the snowmobile.
Police said the pickup truck had been stolen from Okotoks and the trailer had been taken from Taber. The licence plate on the truck had been stolen from Creston, B.C.
Police noted that at the time of Emblau’s arrest, he was wanted on 29 warrants from different police detachments, and while he has resolved some of the charges relating to the warrants, he remains in custody on the charges relating to last year’s chase.
Emblau was remanded in custody last year following a bail hearing, and his bid for freedom was denied again Monday following a bail review in Lethbridge Court of Queen’s Bench.
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