Road rage case leads to guilty verdict

A rage-filled man who chased a driver across St. John's before hitting his vehicle repeatedly with a baseball bat was convicted Thursday.

Christopher Robert Hollett, 31, was found guilty of assault, assault with a weapon and dangerous driving during an appearance at provincial court in St. John's.

A charge of assault causing bodily harm has been stayed.

Hollett was charged after he drove after Dennis Fleming, who had flipped a finger after Hollett cut him off.

After being chased on Columbus Drive at speeds topping 185 km/h, Fleming made it to an Ultramar gas station on Kenmount Road where security video recorded him pleading for help from the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.

By that time, Hollett had arrived on the scene with a bat, which he used to strike Fleming and his vehicle. He had alreadypunched Fleming in the face.

Although Fleming could not identify Hollett as the man who swung at him, a clerk at the gas station said he was 95 per cent sure it was Hollett swinging the bat. The clerk testified he had gone to school with Hollett.

Judge David Orr noted that Hollett's Jeep and licence plate number had been identified, and that the bat found in the back of the vehicle was identified by Fleming as the weapon used in the attack.

Hollett will not be sentenced until a trial on unrelated drug charges concludes. Hollett was arrested during a high-profile bust at a St. John's condominium in January in whichpharmacist Ann Marie Burke was charged with possession and trafficking of narcotics.

In that case, Hollett has been charged withpossession and trafficking in oxycodone, the basis of the powerful painkillers OxyContin and Percocet, as well as a charge of possession of a prohibited weapon.