Roderick Ballantyne was given 132 days for having a stolen city truck in this incident at 28th St. and Second Avenue West in September. (file photo).

By Susan McNeil

Stolen truck

Time served for man who used city truck to ram cruiser

Nov 24, 2022 | 6:00 PM

The man who used a stolen City of Prince Albert half-ton pickup truck to attempt to flee police and then rammed a cruiser will leave jail today.

Roderick Ballantyne, 28, also pleaded guilty to taking his sister’s car in Montreal Lake without permission and using Mr. Clean to assault a BMO employee in Saskatoon in an earlier incident.

Judge Schiefner told Ballantyne to avoid using crystal meth if he wants to stay out of jail.

“I wish you good luck,” Schiefner told Ballantyne, who was in the prisoner’s box, adding that the time he has been in sober in custody will not guarantee success.

“It’ll come crashing down if you start using again.”

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Ballantyne has been in custody since Aug. 29, when he was in a stolen city public works vehicle that police were trying to pull over.

As one police car approached him head-on from the front, Ballantyne put the truck in reverse and hit a second cruiser that was behind him.

“It wasn’t his intention to ram the police vehicle,” said his legal counsel, Christopher Koban. “He was taken aback by the police vehicle coming head-on at him. He put the truck in reverse. He didn’t realize there was a police vehicle behind him.”

Ballantyne also pleaded guilty to charges from earlier incidents, including one in Saskatoon on Sept. 8, 2021.

He had just been released from custody on other charges and went to a BMO branch to withdraw money. When he found out his account had been closed, he became angry, grabbed a nearby bottle of Mr. Clean, and sprayed it toward the employee.

That led to a charge of assault with a weapon.

Ballantyne then went into a nearby Giant Tiger and started eating an ice cream cone. When he told staff he wasn’t going to pay for it, they took it from him but he grabbed another and walked out with it.

“He remained at the scene where he was ultimately arrested by police,” explained the Crown Prosecutor.

A guilty plea was also made to taking his sister’s 2019 Buick from her home in Montreal Lake without her permission.

She tracked the vehicle to Waskesiu and then towards Wahpeton, where police saw the vehicle, but disengaged pursuit as it was being tracked.

Later the same day, Ballantyne returned the Buick to his sister’s residence but was high on crystal meth.

At 28, Ballantyne has a significant history with the justice system, largely stemming from his issues with addiction.

Ballantyne spent his early years in foster care but it was not until he returned to his family in his early teens that he started having legal issues. No issues were raised with his time in foster care.

“He started coming in conflict with the law when he moved back in with his mom and dad,” Schiefner noted.

He advised Ballantyne to avoid people who would encourage him to drink or use drugs while he is under a ban as part of his probation order.

Instead, Ballantyne should seek out people who encourage him to remain sober and offer support.

“You’re too young to have this many charges before the courts. It’s time to start going in a different direction,” said Schiefner.

Ballantyne was given a 132-day sentence, which he has served, an 18-month probation order, and a one-year driving prohibition.

In connection with the stolen city truck charge, two charges of assault on the police were withdrawn, he pleaded guilty to possessing the stolen pickup, and the fourth charge of flight from police was reduced to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.