A 34-year-old Innisfil man has been sentenced to 16 months in jail for a day-long driving rampage that saw him first injure a young child and then require first-responders to extricate him from his vehicle after it crashed.
Peter Sypien, 34, pleaded guilty in a Barrie courtroom on Monday to a string of charges relating to three separate incidents, but were primarily focused on two eight hours apart where a nine-year-old child and Sypien were fortunate to escape with relatively minor injuries.
“It seems like he just likes to drive badly,” opined Ontario Superior Court Justice J.J. Douglas, who was trying to ascertain the circumstances behind two car crashes just a few kilometres apart that were caused by the same individual.
“He realizes it’s only good fortune no one was killed,” said defence counsel Danielle Gendron, who was standing in for Sypien’s regular lawyer, Martin Montes.
Court heard evidence that Sypien suddenly accelerated through the intersection of Innisfil Beach Road and Webster Boulevard on Aug. 24, 2024. A nine-year-old child was struck and suffered a leg injury that required about two weeks to fully heal.
Sypien fled the scene, but was found a short distance away. Released on an undertaking, police later found him eight hours unresponsive in his overturned vehicle that had come to rest in the ditch beside a tree.
Court heard that police were alerted to Sypien’s second crash because of an automated iPhone notification.
Emergency crews managed to free Sypien from the vehicle as he was regaining consciousness, court heard. The second crash was near the intersection of Innisfil Beach Road and the 25th Sideroad, about a five-minute drive from the scene where the child was struck.
Rushed to Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) in Barrie, Sypien suffered wrist and spine injuries. His medical condition prevented him from being adequately tested for impairment and he did not plead to driving under the influence charges, despite evidence that Sypien smelled of alcohol.
In the end, Sypien pleaded guilty to seven charges, including three counts of driving while prohibited, two counts of dangerous driving, failure to comply and failing to stop at the scene of a collision.
Six months earlier, police spotted Sypien driving without his lights turned on along a different stretch of Innisfil Beach Road. After stopping Sypien, police discovered that he was driving without a licence in relation to a 2022 impaired charge.
Sypien apologized for his actions.
“I’m very aware of the damage I’ve caused,” he said by video from Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC) in Penetanguishene, where he has been held in custody since the crashes. “This will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
Sypien, who court heard has struggled with addiction issues since his teens when he was prescribed painkillers to treat kidney stones, has 162 days left to serve.
He will be on probation for 18 months upon completion of his sentence.
Douglas tacked on a three-year driving ban, but warned Sypien that he should expect a further suspension from the Ministry of Transportation over and above that imposed by the court.
“You won’t be driving for a long time,” Douglas said in his final remarks to Sypien before he was led away back to his cell at CNCC.
“If you don’t (address your issues) you’re going to end up right back in court,” the judge added.
