A North Vancouver man accused of passing himself off as an RCMP officer and pulling drivers over believed he was “partaking in Good Samaritan work on the freeway,” and blurred the traces between volunteer work and policing, his lawyer informed a sentencing listening to Friday.
Between January 1 and March 1 of final 12 months, Wayne Peter Church, 59, was accused of falsely representing himself as a peace officer by figuring out himself as a member of North Vancouver RCMP, and utilizing tools more likely to trigger the general public to imagine he was a peace officer.
Church pleaded responsible in North Vancouver provincial courtroom to the latter cost associated to impersonating a police officer by outfitting his pickup truck with emergency lights.
Decide Joseph Galati agreed to a joint sentencing submission from Crown and defence counsel for an 18-month conditional discharge, noting Church has taken rehabilitative steps because the offence.
Crown prosecutor Kenny Wu informed the courtroom police have been alerted to the case by way of a 911 name from Church himself on March 1, 2025, reporting an erratic driver rushing up ‘The Lower’ on Freeway 1 in North Vancouver.
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Wu mentioned a white Tesla was driving on the shoulder and making an attempt to cross Church, who motioned for the driving force to tug over.
Court docket heard the Tesla driver offered his driver’s licence to Church, who was carrying a excessive visibility vest and driving a automobile with flashing lights.
Church, Wu mentioned, gave the Tesla driver a verbal warning about rushing and informed him to obey the foundations of the highway.
Three days later, Church was pulled over and arrested.
Police discovered a number of mild bars and a excessive visibility vest in his Ford F-150 truck.
After the RCMP went public with a information launch in mid-March, Crown counsel mentioned two extra victims surfaced.
Court docket heard a lady was pulled over in January and given a verbal warning after being informed she was “not driving properly.”
Wu mentioned a search warrant for Church’s dashcam revealed a 3rd sufferer had been stopped on the Trans Canada Freeway on Feb. 19 and given a verbal warning for rushing.
Crown counsel mentioned Church’s truck was rigged with flashing purple and white lights and the victims believed he was a police officer.
“That is the kind of offending which has the potential to trigger vital worry in the neighborhood and mistrust of people who find themselves in any other case asserting lawful authority as cops,” Wu informed the courtroom.
Defence counsel Jonathan Israels mentioned his consumer, who works full-time as a normal contractor for his renovation firm, is remorseful and apologetic.
Israels informed the courtroom Church has been an energetic volunteer most of his life – together with as a lifeguard, and with the military and Royal Canadian Marine Search & Rescue.
By tears, Church apologized to the victims, and mentioned he’s dedicated to making sure such behaviour by no means occurs once more.
“I acknowledge it was not solely illegal however undermined the general public belief,” Church informed the courtroom, including he ought to have completed higher.
If he completes his probation circumstances, which embody 15 hours of group service and never possessing after-market automobile lights utilized by legislation enforcement, Church will keep away from a felony document.