Bizarre crime spree leads to 4½ years in jail

A man who used a stolen truck to ram two Winnipeg police officers in their cruiser, leading them to respond with gunfire that killed one of his passengers, was sentenced to 4½ years in prison for his chaotic June 2024 crime spree in two provinces.

David Frank Burling, 30, previously pleaded guilty to assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, fleeing from police and driving while prohibited before his sentencing hearing in St. Pierre-Jolys provincial court on Tuesday.

The June 5, 2024 police shooting killed Burling’s friend and passenger, 30-year-old Tristan Mariash. The Independent Investigation Unit is still looking into the circumstances.

Provincial court Judge Denis Guénette agreed to the joint sentencing recommendation from Crown prosecutor Valerie Hebert and defence lawyer Ryan Amy, which came as a result of a plea bargain struck because of concerns with the strength of the Crown’s case.

The sentence will run consecutive to another he received in April for other, unrelated offences, totalling 6½ years.

Burling’s lengthy record largely consists of driving-related offences and he has been repeatedly warned by justice officials not to get behind the wheel.

“There’s a magnet effect between you and cars when you’re not supposed to be having them…. And I don’t know what else we can do to keep you away from using those cars…. It’s just bad news all around, it’s bad news for you because you lost a friend… may his soul rest in peace. It’s bad news for the police officers, for them and their families,” Guénette said.

Shortly after midnight June 5, RCMP notified WPS a stolen black Ford F-350 pickup truck was headed toward the city. Police information indicated the people inside the truck may have been armed with a gun — though no weapon was ever found — while the vehicle had already been involved in pursuits outside the city.

Mariash was pronounced dead after the two police officers opened fire while Burling was ramming their marked SUV in a parking lot south of the city at Providence University College and Theological Seminary in Otterburne.

Officers on the ground and in the city police helicopter had been following the stolen truck for more than an hour.

Burling then drove to a gas station in Niverville, where he abandoned the truck and his deceased friend, jumping into a woman’s waiting vehicle before speeding away. Another passenger who had been in the truck was arrested hiding near the gas station. Burling was later arrested in Saskatchewan after a manhunt.

An RCMP officer previously shot Burling while he was driving a stolen pickup in April 2022 and the bullet remains lodged in his body, something Hebert noted in arguing he was well aware of the potential consequences of dangerous driving.

Manitoba Public Insurance has issued Burling a lifetime driving suspension.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca