B.C. man guilty of 17 charges for role in high-sped Okanagan car chase

KELOWNA, B.C. – A B.C. man has been found guilty of 17 charges stemming from a carjacking and high-speed chase that saw shots fired at police in the Okanagan.

The 80-kilometre chase from West Kelowna to the Swan Lake interchange north of Vernon began after an officer tried to stop a suspicious vehicle in July 31, 2012.

Forty-one-year-old Michael Ellis has been convicted in B.C. Supreme Court of dangerous driving and weapons offences, but he was acquitted of five counts of attempted murder for allegedly firing shots at police officers.

Shawn Wysynski, (WA’-zin-ski), who was with Ellis that day, testified during the trial that he was the one who fired the shots.

Wysynski was sentenced in October to nine years in prison on armed-robbery charges.

A sentencing date for Ellis has not been set, but the Crown has indicated it intends to seek dangerous offender status against him. (CKIZ)