Jail for banned Okanagan driver who rammed police car while drunk

Adam Kilpatrick’s driving was so erratic that three members of the public had called police that day to report a suspected drunk driver who was in an intense argument with the passenger.

When the RCMP caught up with Kilpatrick somewhere outside Keremeos, he made multiple U-turns on the highway in an attempt to avoid them.

Finally cornered at a Keremeos gas station, his speech was slurred, and his words were incoherent. 

But instead of surrendering to police, he rammed the RCMP cruiser with his vehicle and sped off.

He stopped shortly afterwards and took off on foot. 

An RCMP officer followed and arrested him hiding behind a fence.

On Dec. 31, the 44-year-old appeared at the Penticton courthouse and pleaded guilty to numerous charges from that day in July 2025.

“He put everyone on the road that day in danger,” BC Provincial Court Judge Cathie Heinrichs told Kilpatrick during sentencing. “You’ve been before the court many times for the same kinds of charges.”

The court heard how Kilpatrick had an “horrific” criminal record spanning 25 years.

“(Almost) every year there has been some kind of involvement with criminality,” the judge said.

His criminal record included convictions for theft, drunk driving, fraud, using stolen credit cards, making and possessing forgery equipment, possessing stolen property, and multiple breaches and driving offences.

On the day of the incident, he was barred from driving and banned from having contact with his passenger, who was his former spouse.

Kilpatrick was married for 17 years and has three children. He worked as a tile and stone fitter, but struggled with alcohol abuse. 

“Even though he was in a relationship and was responsible for his children, he was still struggling and getting involved with criminal behaviour,” Judge Heinrichs said.

After Kilpatrick was arrested for drunk driving, he spent a month in jail before being released on bail and entered into transitional housing.

He passed random urine or breathalyzer tests and appeared to be doing well. 

However, after a month, an incident occurred and he was found intoxicated and belligerent and kicked out.

He had, however, managed to get work in his field, rented an apartment and was stable.

Both his parents were in court to support him and he apologized, saying things that day spiralled out of control.

While the Crown wanted six to eight months jail, defence lawyer Nelson Selamaj argued Kilpatrick should spend 12 months under house arrest, allowing him to carry on working.

However, the judge wasn’t convinced.

“Every time you’ve been in court, that has been the goal of the judge, to try to impose a sentence that will change your behaviour,” the Judge said. “The sentence needs to be strong enough to make that very clear to you.”

The judge said it was good that Kilpatrick had gone back to work, but that he hadn’t dealt with the triggers of his alcoholism and behaviour.

“I am concerned that Mr. Kilpatrick has not completed any kind of long-lasting rehabilitation program for alcohol consumption,” she said. “You’ve spent most of your life so far just cycling through struggles with substances.”

Ultimately, Judge Heinrichs sentenced him to six months jail, which with credit for time served means he’ll have another 118 days of jail left.

The judge stopped at mandating any kind of rehab.

“We can force you to do it, but that change has to be on your part,” she said. “We really want the message to get through to you. You’ve got to make some long-lasting, significant changes in your life so that you’re not cycling back through our system here.”

Judge Heinrichs let Kilpatrick say goodbye to his parents before he was taken back into custody.

The story was updated at 8:40 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, to clarify that the convicted person’s name is Kilpatrick.