The man accused of stealing a police car in Vancouver earlier this month appeared for a bail hearing on Oct. 11.
And, as Dustin Walter Tallio rejected lawyer after lawyer, the bail hearing wound up being adjourned to Oct 16.
Tallio is charged with theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, failing to stop causing bodily harm and flight from police.
In a video shared with Glacier Media, a Vancouver Police Department (VPD) cruiser can be seen driving in circles near a busy playground on Oct. 6, around 11 a.m.
Tallio has already made several court appearances. Each time, he rejected having a lawyer to represent him, saying he’d represent himself.
By Oct. 10, he was telling hearings he’d spent enough time in jail and should be released.
“I’d like to be released now,” he told Judge Harbans Dhillon, who has been told the Crown would seek Tallio’s detention.
“I’ve been in custody long enough,” said Tallio.
A lawyer was expected to represent him Friday and an articling student attended but Tallio rejected that team.
On Oct. 11, Tallio continued saying he should be released and threatened self-harm.
The next lawyer went to see him and was also waved off.
As the case bounced between courtrooms, another lawyer went into cells to speak with Tallio. That lawyer asked Judge Dawn Boblin for the case to be adjourned to Oct. 16.
The court has heard fitness to stand trial might be an issue.
What happened?
Robert Farr was walking his dog around Vancouver's Templeton Park when he spotted a police vehicle driving at an excessive speed nearby.
"I saw a VPD SUV speeding through a block over,” he said. "It ramped over speed bumps and jumped a curb into the new running track and field by the kids' playground.”
Sgt. Steve Addison said before the incident officers were flagged down near East Hastings and Semolina Drive for a woman in distress at 10:45 a.m.
As police officers stepped out of the vehicle to assist the woman, a person got into the driver’s seat. The man stole the police vehicle and drove it toward a group of families at Templeton Park.
Police say the person drove up on the grass field, near where young families were gathering at a playground and where kids were playing soccer.
Caregivers in the area gathered all the children quickly and were helped by staff at the nearby community centre.
Police officers were on scene three minutes after the car was stolen.
A K9 officer with the VPD can be seen driving to the park and dealing with the vehicle. The police dog and officer arrested the man while other police officers arrived.
Addison said one person was injured during the incident and was nearly struck head-on by the vehicle. He suffered minor injuries and went to the hospital.
The suspect was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
John Turner, an early lawyer who attempted to help Tallio, told the judge that the man had been bitten by a dog.
