BANFF – A former Bow Valley resident found out the hard way that lying about your name when you get caught with an off-leash dog in Banff National Park will land you in criminal court.
Banff RCMP charged Angela Schrempf on May 14 with obstructing a police officer, possession of a substance and contravening the regulations of the National Parks Act.
Last Wednesday (July 18), defence counsel Dale Fedorchuk entered a guilty plea to the Parks charge, for having an off-leash dog, and informed Judge George Gaschler that Schrempf was accepted into the alternative measures program for the other two criminal code charges against her.
The program allows those without a criminal record to avoid one by doing community service for charges like possession and obstruction.
Crown prosecutor Anita Szabo said RCMP encountered Schrempf on the Mount Norquay Road in the “green spot” with another individual and an off-leash dog, which was observed to be chasing wildlife.
When RCMP questioned her, Szabo said Schrempf gave a false name of Roxanne.
As a result of the guilty plea, Gaschler handed down a $500 fine for the off-leash dog.
As for the alternative measures program, Szabo told the Judge that the placement letter received by the Crown from the accused was not on letterhead, and did not come from an organization that could be found to exist.
She asked the judge for an adjournment for Fedorchuk to follow up with Schrempf and provide the Crown with confirmation of her community service placement in Hawaii, where she currently resides. The matter returns to court on Aug. 15.
