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UPDATED: 3:25 p.m.
Michael Ellis stared straight ahead, stone-faced, as Justice Josephson told him he would be spending an indeterminate amount of time in jail for his actions four years ago.
Ellis was found guilty in February 2015 of 17 charges, including several robbery charges, multiple discharging of prohibited firearm charges and one count of failing to stop for a police officer, after a 2012 shootout and police chase on Westside Road.
On July 31, 2012, Ellis was driving a van in West Kelowna, along with Shawn Wysynski and Ashley Collins, armed with several prohibited weapons, on their way to collect a drug debt.
An RCMP officer, Cpl. Harris, noticed the vehicle and attempted to pull them over, thinking it was suspicious.
The van sped north up Westside Road, and a person began firing a gun at Harris's vehicle from the back of the van.
“Understandably, Cpl. Harris feared he was going to die,” reads Justice Josephson's decision. “With glass in his mouth, he ducked down behind the dashboard. One bullet struck the plastic molding pillar near Cpl. Harris's head. Other bullets struck the bumper, grill, and hood of Cpl. Harris's vehicle.”
Ellis continued north, eventually stealing a black truck at gunpoint, using a black, laser-guided rifle.
Spike belts eventually brought Ellis and the stolen vehicle to a stop, and he, along with the two passengers, were arrested near the Swan Lake exit just north of Vernon, with the help of a police dog.
While Ellis's defence argued Wysynski had forced Ellis to be the driver, Justice Josephson “firmly rejected” this notion.
“Mr. Ellis was a full, willing and active participant in these offences,” his judgement reads.
Ellis's extensive criminal record and Dr. Will Reimer's testimony that Ellis has a “grandiose sense of his own value” and is a “high risk to reoffend violently” led to Justice Josephson's decision to label him a dangerous offender.
“Mr. Ellis constitutes a threat to the safety and physical well-being of other persons,” the judgement reads.
Ellis will be eligible for parole in seven years.
ORIGINAL: 11:08 a.m.
One of three people convicted in the infamous 2012 shootout and police chase on Westside Road has been labelled a dangerous offender and was given an indeterminate jail sentence.
Michael Ellis was found guilty in February 2015 of 17 of the 22 charges he faced for his part in the dramatic 2012 incident, including robbery, using a restricted firearm and flight from a police officer.
Crown prosecutor Murray Kaay called the indeterminate sentence an “extraordinary sentencing tool” and said it's not a common option.
The Crown has been seeking the dangerous offender status for Ellis since June.
Throughout the hearing, the Crown argued that Ellis has shown a pattern of criminal behaviour that has frequently put others in danger.
Ellis, 42, has spent much of his life behind bars, with 52 prior convictions.
In June, forensic psychologist Dr. Will Reimer testified Ellis is a high risk to reoffend.
Ellis will be eligible for parole after seven years.
Shawn Wysynski, who testified he forced Ellis to flee from police at gunpoint during the Westside Road shootout, is serving a nine-year sentence for his part in the incident, while Ashley Collins received an 18-month suspended sentence for knowingly being in a vehicle with illegal firearms.
Ellis was the last person involved in the incident to be sentenced.
