A local man who pleaded guilty to charges of impaired driving, assaulting a police officer and dangerous operation of a vehicle says he acknowledges what he did and is glad no one was hurt in last July's incident.

'I have changed my life a lot,' Aaron Brown told territorial court Judge Karen Ruddy on Monday morning after the Crown and defence counsels made submissions for Brown's sentence.

Ruddy is reserving her decision until Wednesday.

In reviewing the facts of the case, Crown counsel Edith Campbell told the court that on July 6, 2005, Whitehorse RCMP received complaints of a male driving erratically in the downtown area. Witnesses who saw him told police he appeared to be drunk and that he had a bottle of cider.

The first complaint came from the 202 Motor Inn, where the driver had run into the building, damaging the bricks. Witnesses also saw him hit a light pole.

From there, he proceeded down Jarvis Street toward First Avenue. The SUV barely made the turn onto First Avenue, said Campbell.

On First Avenue, he crashed through a barrier near the Roundhouse and then into the building housing Gold Rush Float Tours. He then continued on to Main Street.

Making the turn at the corner of First Avenue and Main Street, he ended up on the wrong side of the road. He hit a Yukon Electrical Co. Ltd. truck, which in turn hit another truck parked beside it near the Edgewater Hotel.

'Fortunately, there was no one (in either vehicle),' said Campbell.

It was then that two police officers at a nearby coffee shop noticed pedestrians retreating.

Brown appeared 'obviously impaired' to the officers who proceeded to read him his rights and attempted to get a breath sample. He was unsteady on his feet, Campbell told the court.

As he was being arrested, Brown swore at the officer, threatened to spit and then did spit at her.

'Mr. Brown was on probation at the time,' said Edith Campbell.

She said restitution is being sought for the damage to the 202 at $1,800, as the owner didn't go through insurance, and $192.50 for the GST paid in the repairs made to the Gold Rush Float Tours building at $2,700 (insurance didn't cover the GST).

Yukon Electrical also didn't go through an insurance policy to repair the light pole, which cost $260, or the truck, which cost $3,029.71.

The other truck owner spent $5,000 to fix the vehicle, but went through insurance and isn't seeking restitution.

Campbell submitted the bills and pictures of some of the damage to the court as evidence.

The Crown then pointed to Brown's previous criminal record. It has no counts of impaired or dangerous driving, but does include assaults and failure to comply with court orders.

She noted Brown was on probation at the time with one of orders being that he abstain from consuming alcohol.

Other aggravating factors show that Brown was driving downtown at a time when numerous people were out, and many have expressed concern for their safety.

As well, at least three other vehicles beyond the one he was driving were damaged in the incident. Two buildings were also damaged, she said.

Campbell submitted that the guilty pleas which were changed should be a mitigating factor in the case.

Based on case law, she proposed Brown be sentenced to one year less his time served in remand custody to be followed by a probation order which deal with alcohol issues. The restitution could be part of the probation order, she suggest.

She also proposed Brown be prohibited from driving for two or three years.

Defence counsel Malcolm Campbell told the court that Brown is a member of the Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation and has a four-year-old son. He and his spouse are separated but are on amicable terms, with Brown paying support for his son when he works.

Brown also has his GED and is working on continuing his college education in pipefitting. He's been attending college through the Whitehorse Correctional Centre (WCC) since January, along with other programming offered at the jail on issues including spiritual growth, life skills and computer literacy. The man has been part of the jail's inmate committee.

In September, Brown plans to continue his education at college and eventually wants his certificate for pipefitting.

Though Brown has a previous criminal record, Malcolm Campbell pointed out it has been diminishing in seriousness since 2004, with only one substantive charge since then.

Before this incident, Brown was beginning to take steps in turning his life around and making contact with more positive impacts in his life, said Malcolm Campbell.

In 2005, Brown was working for much of the year, including as part of a program through Human Resources Development Canada that ran from December 2004 until last March with Crime Prevention Yukon.

After that, he continued to work full-time in pipefitting until last November.

Since he's been in custody, he hasn't been given full privileges at the jail and could only access many of the programs he's in since January.

The defence is proposing Brown get a two-for-one credit for the 3 1/2 months he's spent in remand custody.

The Crown is asking the court to give him two-for-one credit for the time he couldn't access programming, and then a 1.5-to-one credit for the time after he was able to take part in the programs.

Malcolm Campbell also noted that Brown's plea change saved between 10 and 20 people from having to testify at a trial. His client doesn't remember the incident, the lawyer said.

'Essentially, Mr. Brown has no recollection of the event,' Malcolm Campbell told court.

The last thing Brown remembers is the previous evening, when he met a couple of girls downtown and was giving them a ride. They had ciders with them and offered him one.

While Brown acknowledges he breached his probation, he had no intention of becoming as intoxicated as he did, said Malcolm Campbell.

He then remembers arriving at WCC after his arrest and reported to the jail nurse he felt groggy, as if he'd been drugged.

Brown also recognizes the seriousness of the assault on the police officer and took a medical test which confirmed there was no communicable disease, said his defence counsel.

Malcolm Campbell pointed out that while Brown's driving was bad, it occurred over a short period and there was no police chase underway as in some other cases described in the case law brought forward.

He suggested a fine within the range of $1,000 be charged for his first impaired driving offence and that a sentence of 60 days be in place for assaulting the police officer. A five-month sentence would be appropriate for the dangerous driving charge, Malcolm Campbell suggested to the court.

He also cited case law in making his submissions and asked that the victim surcharge be waived.

Another person who has been working with Brown for awhile said he has been doing well.

Ruddy said she will need some time to go through the decisions provided by the lawyers before she decides on a sentence.