Serial impaired driver guilty in hit and run

A notorious drunk driver in Nova Scotia has pleaded guilty to a hit and run in Enfield last spring.

Terry Naugle, 51, from the Truro area, entered guilty pleas Fridayto three charges: leaving the scene of accident, impaired driving and operating a motor vehicle while prohibited.

A charge of failing to provide a breath sample is expected to be dismissed on Nov. 18, whenNaugle appears next in Dartmouth provincial court. He remains in custody.

Naugle, who has more than 20 convictions for drunk-driving offences, was charged aftera March 28 crash on Highway 102.

Julia McMillan, who was in an SUV with her husband and daughter when Naugle's car crashed into theirs, said she has been to almost all of Naugle's court appearances since then.

"It feels like a game that we're being played along with," she said Friday."Shocked that we got this far and then there's a change within the last hour."

In April, McMillan describedthe terrifying tale of the hit and run to CBC News.

She saidher family was goinghomefrom a day trip to Halifax when they ran out of gas near the Enfield exit. When they pulled their SUV over, a car smashed into them.

McMillan said the car continued to a nearby gas station, where her husband confronted the driver.

"His comment was, 'Leave me alone, I have to have a leak' and if you don't let me go, I'll be doing it right here,'" she said.

McMillan's husband yelled for help, andfourRCMP officers who were in the gas station's restaurant chased Naugle across the four-lane highway and had him in a police car within 15 minutes. Police found an empty vodka bottle and three beers in his car.

David McMillan said that he thought Naugle looked smug in court on Friday.

"It bothers us immensely. IfI do wrong thenI knowI have to put my hand up and say 'I've done wrong,'" he said."We're not seeing any of that and that troubles us."

The McMillans, along withMothers Against Drunk Driving, have said they want Naugle declared a dangerous offender.

Naugle has never been convicted of injuring or killing anyone, which means he cannot be declared a long-term or dangerous offender. The charges he's facing carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Margaret Miller, national president of MADD, said she hopes that's what he gets.

"Hopefully he will have the maximum that is allowable and that would probably be the appropriate action in this case," she said outside the courtroom.

Naugle's brother, Bobby Naugle, told CBC News his brother has expressed remorse. He said he hopes his brother will get treatment and a chance to change while behind bars.

"I hate to see him go to jail, don't get me wrong. But he did the thing, he's gonna have to pay the price," he said.