Justice system failed to curb behaviour of car thief now charged after police pursuit, judge said in 2020

A Manitoba judge had harsh words four years ago about the justice system's inability to help curb the behaviour of a convicted car thief who is now facing a slew of new charges stemming from a police pursuit that stretched across southern Manitoba this week.

David Frank Burling, 29, was arrested in Saskatchewan Wednesday, after police say he was involved in a pursuit that began in Winnipeg and led them to Niverville, Man., where another man died after being shot by police.

Burling has a history of fleeing from police.

In 2020, he was sentenced to just under two years on charges that also included another flight from police, this time in the Crystal City area.

"I look at your criminal record, and ... it's been a one-man crime wave, really, for two years," Manitoba Judge Heather Pullan told Burling during his May 2020 sentencing hearing.

"It's your responsibility, sir, together with whomever's out there supporting you, to see whatever it is that's driving this behaviour on your part," she said.

Pullan also said protecting the public is a fundamental principle in sentencing.

"And as a justice system, we are doing a terrible job here," she said.

After this week's police chase, Burling is now charged with two counts of assaulting a peace officer, among several other charges.

The incident began Tuesday night, when Manitoba RCMP say they got a call regarding a vehicle that had been stolen in western Manitoba in May. Saskatchewan RCMP said the vehicle had been spotted in the province's southeast, and they believed it was headed to Manitoba.

The vehicle was later spotted near Oak Bluff, Man., RCMP said.

Winnipeg police said Wednesday that they spotted the vehicle in the west end of the city shortly after midnight.

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The police service's helicopter tracked the vehicle for about an hour, before it ended up in Otterburne, south of Winnipeg, where a police cruiser was rammed by the stolen vehicle. An "engagement" followed, in which police fired their guns, and the suspects fled in the truck, Winnipeg police said.