Drunk and feeling hopeless, a young man spotted a probation officer's white SUV parked at the Whitehorse probation office and proceeded to steal it.

Not long after, the local RCMP got word the Chevrolet Tahoe had rear-ended a driver near a Marwell intersection and kept going, eventually turning onto the North Klondike Highway.

By the time a Carmacks Mountie caught up with Michael Dick as the 23-year-old changed a flat tire on the side of the highway, Dick's swerving, erratic driving would force two vehicles into the ditch.

Hours later after the booze in his system would have long started dissipating, Dick still blew more than twice the legal driving limit.

Dick, who pleaded guilty to stealing the Tahoe, driving drunk, not stopping at the scene of accidents and dangerous driving, has been parked at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre ever since that Sept. 23, 2003 day.

And despite a plea for time served with the usual two-for-one given for pretrial custody, he's effectively served about 14 months Dick will be spinning his wheels in jail a little while longer.

Last Wednesday afternoon, Supreme Court Justice Leigh Gower opted to give Dick a jail term at the very top end of the range the prosecution suggested for the dangerous driving conviction 16 months. The other charges resulted in shorter terms to be served concurrently.

'You could have killed each one of these people,' Gower said. 'Maybe even the life of a three-year-old girl. I hope that thought sticks with you the next time you look at a drink and think about putting it down your gullet.'

It's the fact Dick simply drove away from his two collisions and one near-crash that takes his case out of the ordinary, the judge continued.

Once he's out of jail, Dick will be on probation for two years. Once his 18-month driving prohibition is up, he still has to come back to court to ask the judge for his licence back.

Gower agreed with the Crown that the usual 12-month prohibition for a first impaired driving offence wasn't enough in this case.

Last September, Dick was on probation for assaulting his spouse and was attending domestic violence treatment at the Adult Probation office.

It was his second time through the program, the court heard. The first time, the other men in the group thought he needed more work and told him to try again. During that second stint, Dick's performance was 'exemplary' and he was described as 'a different man.'

Despite his success, he was despondent over not being able to see his girlfriend and their three children, the youngest only three, due to court orders related to his previous charge.

As well, some acquaintances from his home community of Ross River had been berating him about being an abusive spouse and a poor provider for his family, the court heard.

Feeling like he'd never be given credit for changing even if he successfully completed the treatment, he began drinking again, said defence counsel Malcolm Campbell, who suggested an eight- to 12-month jail term.

He argued against an additional probationary term as Dick is already on probation from his previous charges.

Apologizing to the drivers he terrorized, Dick said he's learned 'alcohol ain't for me. It changes my thinking patterns.'

He said he's tired of probation and jail, and doesn't want to be a 40-year-old convict whose kids visit him in prison.

As he handed down his decision, Gower said he was impressed with the young man's understanding of his alcohol problem. He encouraged Dick to re-establish contact with his Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor.

It was with alcohol in his bloodstream that Dick took the Tahoe some time during the afternoon of Sept. 23.

At 4:30 p.m., the first collision at the Quartz-Industrial Roads intersection was reported to police. Dick rammed the vehicle hard enough to knock the other driver's glasses off his face and write off the older vehicle.

Prosecutor John Phelps noted Dick was driving drunk, downtown, at a time when many other motorists would be on the road headed home.

Near the Lake Laberge turnoff, he passed and cut off another northbound vehicle, swerving in front of it.

The woman in the other car had to slow considerably, then pass Dick, who by now was driving on the road's shoulder, only to have Dick accelerate again, forcing her into the ditch to avoid being hit.

He drove into the ditch behind the woman's car, only to drive back out and continue north.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said she and her three-year-old daughter were scared for their lives. She's since had recurring nightmares, and she noted her luck that the ditch was shallow and not an embankment or cliff.

'It if was, he could have killed us all,' she wrote.

After passing the Braeburn Lodge, Dick tried twice to pass another motorist, striking her mirror and front end, forcing her into the ditch on his third try at passing.

He kept driving.

Ten minutes later, the female driver came across the stopped Tahoe and Dick, who she knew. When she confronted him, he told her the truck was stolen and pleaded with her not to report him.

Carmacks RCMP arrested the man at about 6:30 p.m., an hour and a half after the first collision report. Two hours later, his blood alcohol reading was .170. The legal limit is .08.