Driver ran into barricade during Legs for Literacy race

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By Craig Babstock
Times & Transcript Staff

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A Moncton man who was so drunk he drove into a safety barrier during a charity marathon was sent to jail this week and agreed to forfeit his car.

John Owen Gordon, 55, was driving his 1997 Crown Victoria on the University Avenue overpass at 8:40 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25. At the same time, Legs for Literacy volunteers were stationed on the road watching over barriers set up to keep marathoners and vehicle traffic separate.

A Moncton provincial court judge was told on Monday that Gordon ran a red light and crashed his car into the barricade. A volunteer went over to talk to him and could smell a strong stench of alcohol before Gordon drove off.

The incident was reported to Codiac RCMP and officers were on the look-out for the car. A Mountie in an unmarked car spotted the suspect on Elmwood Drive and began to follow him.

The officer witnessed Gordon stop for a red light in the middle of the intersection.

The police car came up alongside of him and Gordon didn't move when the light turned green.

He finally started to drive without noticing the police car.

The Mountie activated his lights and siren and Gordon kept going for a while but eventually pulled over and blew a .240 on the breathalyser, which is triple the legal blood-alcohol limit.

He pleaded guilty in court on Monday and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and banned from driving in Canada for the next three years. It's his third impaired driving offence.

Gordon returned to court yesterday when Luc Labonte, special prosecutor for proceeds of crime, made an application to the court to have the car forfeited as offence-related property.

Labonte first successfully argued for the forfeiture of an impaired driver's car in fall of 2004, setting a national legal precedent.

Judge Brigitte Sivret was going to schedule a hearing on the matter, but Gordon said it wouldn't be necessary.

"If they want it, they can take it," he said from the prisoners dock. "I don't want it no more."

Normally the Crown argues for forfeiture of a vehicle if the offender has a series of drunk driving infractions on his record. In this case Gordon had three and the Crown decided that was enough.

"The aggravating factors were the time of day, the fact he put a lot of people at risk the way he was driving and the extremely high reading," said Labonte after court, adding that the car will be auctioned off at a later date.