Tow truck driver sustains serious injuries after being struck by suspected impaired driver on Hwy 19

Tow truck driver sustains serious injuries after being struck by suspected impaired driver on Hwy 19
File Photo

A Vancouver Island tow truck driver has sustained serious injuries after being struck by a suspected impaired driver, who was travelling along Highway 19.

The incident took place on January 11 at approximately 6:30 p.m. when BC Highway Patrol (BCHP) Parksville received a report that a tow truck driver had been struck by a vehicle on Highway 19 near Rumming Road, north of Lantzville.

The vehicle, which was described by witnesses as a green Dodge Caravan, fled the scene following the collision.

The tow truck driver had been pulled over on the side of the road, between Lantzville and Nanoose, in an area where repairs were being made to the road surface after recent winter storms damaged parts of the highway. A number of damaged vehicles were already parked on the shoulder of the highway and were being towed by the operator when the collision occurred.

The tow operator sustained serious injuries as a result of the incident, but they are being described as non-life-threatening at this time.

Witnesses who were on the scene were also able to provide the BC Highway Patrol with a licence plate for the van which was located in Nanoose Bay approximately 30 minutes later.

The van was parked along a road with a man behind the wheel and it was quickly determined that he was impaired by alcohol.

BCHP officers proceeded to arrest the man and took him back to an officer, where a breath sample was provided. The man’s breath samples were said to be in excess of three times over the legal limit.

He was arrested and taken to the BCHP office where he provided breath samples in excess of three times over the legal limit.

BCHP says that the man is facing potential Criminal Code charges of impaired driving causing bodily harm and failing to remain at the scene of an accident.

He remains in custody at this time and the vehicle has been seized in order to undergo a forensic examination.

In wake of the incident, police are issuing a reminder to drivers to “slow down and move over for designated vehicles to give those workers a safe area to work in.”

Anyone with information regarding this collision, including any dashboard camera video, is asked to contact BC Highway Patrol in Parksville at 250-954-2953 and reference file 2022-25.

Graham CoxGraham Cox

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