Majore Jackson was sentenced for driving this stolen truck through an unmarked RCMP cruiser following a police chase in Yellow Point on April, 25, 2018 (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

Police chase

Man jailed after ramming stolen truck into police cruiser south of Nanaimo

Sep 17, 2019 | 7:27 AM

NANAIMO — A prolific offender has been sentenced for a shocking string of crimes in the Nanaimo area, including bulldozing over a police car.

Majore Jackson, 34, was sentenced to two years in provincial jail on Tuesday, Sept. 17 after pleading guilty to five offences, including three counts of assault with a weapon.

A wild sequence of events came to a thudding end on April 25, 2018 in the rural Yellow Point area when Jackson drove a stolen truck into an unmarked police car.

He and the co-accused Andrew Bellwood were arrested following a brief chase after the crash. Jackson remained in custody since his arrest.

An officer suffered numerous injuries during the ordeal, including post-concussion symptoms. He was off the job for two weeks and placed on light work duty for six months, court was told. Police also said two vehicles were destroyed.

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Judge Brian Harvey told Jackson police officers deserve the full protection of the law while doing their jobs.

“Someone like yourself decides to take a motor vehicle and essentially run at them, that could have produced catastrophic results for yourself, let alone them,” Judge Harvey said.

Jackson’s crime spree began six days prior to being arrested.

The agreed statement of facts said he stole a $7 carton of ice cream from a Nanaimo Quality Foods grocery store and was confronted outside by a store security worker.

Jackson claimed he didn’t steal anything, then suddenly pulled out a large knife and lunged repeatedly toward the worker.

Jackson ran into a nearby yard but was pursued and physically engaged by the security worker.

Crown prosecutor Basil McCormick said the security worker came within an inch of being hit with the large knife as he fought with Jackson.

The worker managed to recover the knife and threw it in a ditch, forcing Jackson to run away.

On April 23, Jackson stole the truck used in the chase two days later.

A tracking device on the truck led police to Jackson and Bellwood in the Yellow Point area.

The two were blocked in on a dead-end road. It was then they unsuccessfully tried to escape by driving over the hood and windshield of the unmarked police car.

Jackson’s attorney Stephen Taylor said his client had a deep-rooted addiction to hard drugs and requires extensive rehabilitation.

He said it was agreed Jackson’s crimes would be handled by a provincial sentence instead of a four-year federal term.

“He’ll still be in jail for another two years at a place where he can get intense residential treatment. If the drug addiction’s fixed, there’s nothing holding him back from being a productive citizen,” Taylor said.

Jackson has 20 prior convictions, including assaults, property crimes and driving offences.

He was also handed two-years probation, a five-year driving ban and 10-year firearms ban for the Yellow Point incident.

Jackson is slated to spend the rest of his sentence at the Nanaimo Correctional Centre and is expected to attend the renowned Guthrie House drug treatment program.

He briefly addressed court shortly before going back to jail.

“I’d like to apologize to all of the families and victims who got into this by bad decisions and a real bad day,” Jackson said from the prisoner’s box.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com
On Twitter: @reporterholmes