An impaired driver who left pedestrians fleeing the Main Street sidewalk and about $13,000 worth of damage to downtown buildings and vehicles last July will spend approximately the next five months in jail.

Aaron Brown was sentenced to 10 months in jail this morning for dangerous driving, along with 30 days for impaired driving and another 60 days for assaulting a police officer.

The sentences for dangerous and impaired driving will be served concurrently.

That will be followed by an 18-month sentence. Brown was also ordered to pay for some of the damage caused by the incident.

Territorial court Judge Karen Ruddy granted Brown seven months' credit for the time he's spent in Whitehorse Correctional Centre since November.

That's at a two-to-one time credit for prior to Jan. 20, when he began accessing programs at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre and an approximate 1.5-to-one credit after that.

Brown pleaded guilty to the charges in court Monday.

He was also ordered to pay for damages to some of the buildings and vehicles he crashed into.

At about 7:30 a.m. on July 6, 2005, Whitehorse RCMP received several complaints of an SUV driving erratically through the downtown area, Ruddy said in reviewing the facts of the case this morning.

One witness suspected the driver was drunk after seeing him holding a bottle of cider.

Over the short trip, Brown ran into the 202 Motor Inn, proceeded down Jarvis Street running into a street light, then didn't stop to turn the corner onto First Avenue.

He ended up driving through a barrier near the Roundhouse and damaging a building housing Gold Rush Float Tours and a bus owned by the same company before he continued heading toward Main Street.

As he turned onto Main Street, he ended up on the wrong side of the road and ran into a Yukon Electrical Co. Ltd. truck.

It was fortunate two RCMP officers at a nearby coffee shop noticed pedestrians retreating from the sidewalk, said Ruddy.

As he was being arrested, Brown swore at a police officer, threatened to spit at her, then followed through on the threat.

Brown indicated that his last memory before being taken to jail after the arrest was the evening previous, when he had a cider with two girls he was driving downtown. When he went to visit the nurse at the jail, he said he felt groggy as if he'd been drugged.

Ruddy also pointed out Brown, 26, acknowledged he broke a condition of his probation order not to drink at the time when he opted to accept the drink.

The Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation member has his GED and is pursuing a college education toward becoming a pipefitter, even when he was in jail.

Prior to being taken into custody last November, Brown was employed for much of 2005 as a pipefitter and early in the year at Crime Prevention Yukon through a Human Resources Development Canada program, said Ruddy.

A prior criminal record includes a number of court orders that were not followed, as well as an assault.

The judge pointed to the continued efforts Brown has made, including through programs he's taking at the jail. He has the support of family and friends as well.

Defence counsel Malcolm Campbell sought a fine for Brown's first impaired driving offence. However, Ruddy said the case was extremely aggravated, given the circumstances.

Because the impaired and dangerous driving charges are so intertwined, Ruddy said the sentences would be served concurrently. The additional 60 days for assaulting a police officer would be served following the sentence for the other two offences, she ruled.

Ruddy ordered that a restitution of $192.50 be paid to Gold Rush Float Tours for the GST paid on the repairs needed. Insurance did not cover the GST.

Brown will also have to pay for repairs to the Yukon Electrical truck and light pole, which cost more than $3,000, at $260 for the light pole and $3,029.71 for the truck.

Ruddy opted not to order restitution of $1,800 in repairs to the 202 because there weren't the supporting documents needed to show the cost.

Other repairs for the approximately $13,000 in total damages were handled through insurance.

Victim surcharges were waived. Ruddy noted she would rather see the money going toward paying off the restitution order or toward Brown's four-year-old child who he supports when he's working.

Under Brown's probation order, he must keep the peace and be of good behaviour; appear before the court as required; notify the court of any change in name, address or employment; report to a probation officer upon his release and as directed after; abstain from alcohol; not be in any commercial business where the primary purpose is selling alcohol; and to take programming as directed.

Before leaving the courtroom, Ruddy wished Brown well in the steps he's started taking to improve life.

Further charges around impaired driving, failing to comply with a probation order, failure to stop at the scene of an accident and five counts of mischief were stayed by the Crown.