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North Van drug dealer who led police on dangerous chase gets additional jail time

A drug dealer from North Vancouver who led police on a dangerous chase as they tried to arrest him, then threatened a hospital nurse with an IV needle will be spending an additional 10 months in jail.
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A drug dealer from North Vancouver who led police on a dangerous chase as they tried to arrest him, then threatened a hospital nurse with an IV needle will be spending an additional 10 months in jail.

Provincial court judge Joanne Challenger handed Sean Edward Christopher Boscoe, 29, the sentence of approximately 10 more months in jail, in addition to the year and nine months he has already spent in jail for his crimes since his arrest in September 2017.

In a sentencing hearing in North Vancouver provincial court, federal Crown prosecutor Lisa Dumbrell said Boscoe was first arrested and charged with drug trafficking four years ago in Estevan, Saskatchewan, where Boscoe had originally gone to work in the oil patch.

Police there got a tip in January 2015 that Boscoe was in charge of a cocaine-trafficking ring, hiring other men as runners to do street-level drug dealing, said Dumbrell. Boscoe was put under surveillance and that summer police raided two apartments under search warrants. There they seized 27 ounces (777 grams) of cocaine, with an estimated street value of over $117,000, plus cell phones, packaging materials, said Crown counsel. Police also seized approximately $47,000 in cash from the apartments and from a safety deposit box in Boscoe’s name, also searched under warrant.

Boscoe was eventually released on bail, and went on the lam in B.C. after returning to the province.

Two years later, on Sept. 29, 2017, Boscoe – who was still wanted on the outstanding warrant from Saskatchewan – was spotted driving down Third Street in North Vancouver around 2 p.m. When police tried to stop him, he was described as “fleeing at a high rate of speed” through the residential neighbourhood, said provincial prosecutor Andrew Cochrane, eventually losing control of his vehicle and smashing into a hedge.

Boscoe and his passenger then both ran away on foot. One North Vancouver RCMP officer eventually tackled Boscoe to the ground, injuring himself in the process, said Cochrane.

At that point, Boscoe told police he might have swallowed fentanyl and started going into seizures. Police took him to Lions Gate Hospital.

After medical staff cleared Boscoe, he again tried to make a getaway, said Cochrane, this time pulling an IV out of his arm and grabbing a pair of surgical clamps and assaulted a nurse as he tried to make a run for it.

Police again tackled Boscoe and put him in handcuffs.

The prosecutor said Boscoe described himself at the time as being sleepless for three nights before the incident, and being under the influence of alcohol and opiates.

Boscoe’s defence lawyer Sandi Janicki told the judge her client is remorseful. “He wishes he could take back what happened.”

Addressing the court, Boscoe said he’s deeply ashamed and hopes to make positive changes in his life and help others not to make the same mistakes. “I’m sorry for everything I’ve done,” he said.

Under an agreement with Saskatchewan prosecutors, Boscoe would have been handed a stiffer sentence for the drug trafficking offences. But because he has already spent a year and nine months in prison, Challenger ruled he would serve an additional four months for those crimes, which include possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, possession of currency that was the proceeds of crime and breach of bail conditions. Challenger imposed an additional six months of jail time for the North Vancouver offences, including fleeing a police officer, assault with a weapon and assaulting a police officer, noting the fact he was a “fugitive” on the Saskatchewan charges at the time was an aggravating factor. Boscoe will also serve one year on probation after he is released from jail.