An Okanagan man has been sentenced to nine months in jail for a vehicular rampage that “terrorized the community” of Vernon, B.C., a provincial court judge has ruled. The 90-minute crime spree unfolded on a Sunday morning in 2024 and ended with the driver chugging a beer, urinating on a private driveway and offering to sell the smoking wreck of his Infiniti sedan to a bystander, before police arrived. Zakri John Schaeffer, 36, repeatedly swore at the judge during his sentencing hearing last month. He told the court he was driving erratically because he “was in a bad mood,” though he could not remember why, according to the sentencing decision. Schaeffer, who represented himself at trial, pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a conveyance. However, he denied using substances or damaging any vehicles that day, despite “overwhelming evidence” and “eyewitness testimony” to the contrary, according to Judge David Patterson. ‘This was not an accident’ Police and civilian witnesses testified that the ordeal began at around 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 28, 2024, when a black Infiniti sedan was observed speeding erratically in and out of traffic, narrowly avoiding head-on collisions with other vehicles. An agreed statement of facts says the vehicle—already showing significant front-end damage—sped past an elementary school. When it nearly collided with another car again, Schaeffer “exited his vehicle and charged at a witness,” the court heard. Witnesses reported the sedan travelling at 140 km/h in a 50 km/h residential zone. They described Schaeffer “swerving into oncoming lanes, passing vehicles in no-passing zones, gesturing at other drivers, slamming on his vehicle’s brakes, reversing at high speed, and drifting around corners,” according to the facts of the case. A few minutes after noon, Schaeffer “reversed his vehicle rapidly into another vehicle and fled the scene.” The driver of the other vehicle testified that he was “stunned” by the crash, telling the court: “It felt like I got assaulted, like I was attacked. This was not an accident.” During the sentencing hearing, as the judge summarized that testimony, Schaeffer interrupted and called the hit-and-run victim a “scammer,” claiming photos presented in court showed pre-existing damage. Offered to sell damaged car for $400 After leaving the crash scene, Schaeffer reportedly drove to the parking lot of a residential building, where he began yelling and banging on people’s doors. “Mr. Schaeffer quickly drank a beer, urinated on private property, and tried to sell his damaged vehicle to a witness for $1,000,” the judge wrote. The witness testified that he was visiting his grandchildren when he heard the sedan approaching. The car overtook an RV and then pulled into the building’s driveway. He testified that the driver, whom he identified in court as Schaeffer, “threw a beer in the middle of the road” and then “ran out, stepped on the beer,” before returning to his car and grabbing another one. According to the witness, Schaeffer then “went to the end of the driveway and had a pee.” The witness estimated there were six police cruisers circling the area when Schaeffer approached him and offered to sell the car—which was by then “smoking out the front passenger side”—for $1,000. When the witness declined, Schaeffer “reduced the price to $400,” the judge wrote. A building resident testified that when he saw the black Infiniti pull into the driveway “rather fast,” he asked the driver to slow down because children were playing nearby. He told the court Schaeffer drank from a beer and then threw it at a neighbour’s door. The witness went to his truck to retrieve an axe to protect himself. ‘Extreme danger to public’ A Vernon RCMP officer who responded to the scene testified he had received multiple reports that morning about dangerous and erratic driving involving the black Infiniti sedan. When he arrived at the residential complex, he saw the abandoned vehicle “had extensive damage to the right passenger side, and the headlight was gone.” A witness told the officer the driver “chugged a beer and then walked away.” The sedan’s licence plate was traced to Schaeffer, who lived in the complex. Police knocked on his door and arrested him when he answered. “Mr. Schaeffer appeared agitated, he seemed angry, not in a good mood, but he did not appear grossly intoxicated,” the judge wrote, summarizing the officer’s testimony. “He was not slurring his words and his eyes were a little bit glossy,” the judge continued. “He noted an open Budweiser can inside the residence. But he did say that Mr. Schaeffer was speaking clearly, appeared coherent.” The officer photographed empty beer cans inside the vehicle and testified that Schaeffer was using his stove to “hot knife marijuana” at the time of his arrest. The judge cited multiple aggravating factors in his sentencing decision, including the “extreme danger to public safety” posed by the rampage, which left “numerous witnesses terrified.” Schaeffer made “no attempt to check on” the victim whose vehicle he struck and showed “complete disregard for consequences” during the crime spree, which “continued even after police were actively searching” for him. As a mitigating factor, the judge noted that no one was physically injured during the rampage. However, “this is due to luck, not Mr. Schaeffer’s actions,” he wrote. “The potential for catastrophic harm was extreme.” ‘90 minutes of terror’ The court heard Schaeffer—now unemployed and homeless “by choice”—has an extensive criminal history and continues to abuse substances with “no remorse or insight” into his offending. When asked for reassurance he would not repeat the behaviour, Schaeffer told the judge the court “would have no way of knowing” if he would reoffend, though the embarrassment he felt while witnesses testified against him would serve as a deterrent. The judge opined that the case would have been an ideal candidate for a “community impact statement” from the entire city, rather than only hearing from the individual witnesses who were called to testify. “There was 90 minutes of terror in the city of Vernon,” the judge wrote. “It is only by luck, pure luck, that potential catastrophic consequences were avoided … the potential for tragedy was extreme.” The judge said he would have preferred to impose a longer jail sentence but was constrained by Crown counsel’s recommended range of six to nine months. In addition to the nine-month jail term, Schaeffer was ordered to serve one year of probation and was banned from driving for two years. RELATED STORIES:
