Langley realtor’s sentence in Mountie-dragging to be reduced

Langley realtor David Foxwell is scheduled to appear before an Alberta judge for sentencing on Sept. 25 after being convicted of assaulting an RCMP officer at a traffic stop.

Foxwell was found guilty of assaulting a peace officer, two counts of resisting a peace officer, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, impaired driving, and refusing to provide a breath sample in a court in Leduc on June 15. However, he is expected to face a reduced sentence because he was improperly detained after being granted bail.

A prominent local real estate agent and volunteer with local groups, Foxwell’s charges date back to Dec. 15, 2021, when members of the Leduc RCMP Integrated Traffic Unit were doing check-stops for impaired drivers.

According to the ruling of Justice G.A. Rice of the Alberta Court of Justice, Const. Jason Leasa pulled Foxwell over in Leduc after seeing Foxwell’s rented Hyundai Elantra travel straight through a stop sign, with no brake lights activating.

He followed the Elantra and turned on his emergency lights to signal a traffic stop. Instead of pulling over to the right shoulder of the road, Foxwell’s car pulled into a left-turn bay at an intersection.

Leasa got out on foot, but Foxwell did not put his car in park.

An audio recording captured much of what happened next, as Leasa repeatedly told Foxwell to put his car in park, and then asked to see his driver’s license and insurance papers.

Foxwell denied having those on him, although they were later found in the pocket of his jacket after he was arrested.

As Leasa explained that he was going to need a breath sample and got out the sampling device, Foxwell started rolling away.

“Where are you going?” Leasa exclaimed. “Put it in park, you f——— idiot.”

“I’m trying to get off the road,” Foxwell replied.

At this point, Leasa reached inside the car and tried to put the vehicle in park himself, but Foxwell kept driving, with Leasa hanging out the window. He drove for about 200 metres, at a speed of about 45 km/h, before coming to a halt, when the vehicle of a civilian bystander pulled in front of the car.

The bystander, who testified at Foxwell’s trial, climbed into the rental car and finally put the vehicle into park as Leasa tried to wrestle Foxwell out of the car.

Leasa suffered severe bruising to his forearm, right armpit, and upper rib cage, and one finger was briefly dislocated.

Foxwell would testify at trial that he didn’t stop driving for some distance because he didn’t want the officer to fall off his car in the middle of the intersection.

He admitted to having four drinks over several hours before the incident.

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Justice Rice of the Alberta Court of Justice case called Foxwell’s testimony “incredible,” “disingenuous,” and “internally inconsistent.”

By the end of the trial, Foxwell’s lawyer had acknowledged that the Crown prosecutors had proved their case on four of the six charges, but Foxwell maintained he was not guilty of assaulting an officer and impaired driving.

Rice disagreed, finding Foxwell guilty of both of those charges in addition to the other four.

As part of a voir dire hearing over the length of time Foxwell was held in custody after his arrest, the same judge found that Foxwell’s Charter rights were violated.

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He spent an extra 22 hours in detention after his bail hearing, which the judge found was “grossly disproportionate to the objectives of the criminal law.”

Foxwell had already appeared before a justice of the peace, and had the ability to pay $500 to secure his bail by credit or debit, but was still held until he was taken to a different facility by sheriffs where he was allowed to pay and then released. The RCMP would accept only cash.

The judge ruled that Foxwell’s eventual sentence will be reduced because of the Charter violation.