Submitted by
Sgt. G.D. Simpson
December 18
Clearwater RCMP responded to a single vehicle roll over on Highway 5 at 6:00 p.m. in Birch Island after BC Ambulance Service had called for assistance.
Cst. Lockwood arrived on scene and located a white Pontiac Wave badly damaged from being rolled over. A local couple approached Cst. Lockwood and advised that the two occupants, a male and a female, were picked up by a white pick-up truck which had sped off northbound to Vavenby.
Cst. Lockwood observed open liquor in the vehicle and blood splatter, mostly on the passenger side. The couple stated that they approached the occupants and the female was irate that she would be unable to pay for damage to the vehicle or for an ambulance and was mad that the police and ambulance were called.
When the white pick-up truck arrived, the occupants were quick to depart. The male witness stated that the female passenger was bleeding. The female witness advised she observed the vehicle leave the road to the right, thought she saw it flip and land up right on the nearby driveway. The registered owners are a local couple.
Cst. Lockwood spoke with the male vehicle owner at his residence who was intoxicated, and subsequently issued violation tickets under the Motor Vehicle Act. He then visited the female owner at hospital who was determined to have minor injuries and would be released.
Photos of the scene were obtained. An accident investigation report was completed and forwarded to ICBC. Alcohol and speed are suspected to be contributing factors to this incident which could have turned out much worse than it did.
December 19
Clearwater RCMP responded to a motor vehicle collision on Highway 5 at Messiter Summit in Blue River, B.C. The collision was described as semi vs. semi and an suv vs. the collision.
Cst. Lockwood attended the scene and observed a semi cab completely sheered off the frame, another semi’s trailer sideway in the middle of the road sheered in half, and a little red station wagon car that drove into the broken semi trailer.
Semi #1 was northbound going down the Messiter Summit, lost control in the wet thick slushy snow, the trailer went sideways (jack knived) down the highway colliding with an on-coming Semi (Semi #2), causing a horrific collision and sheering Semi #2’s cab off of it’s frame.
A red Mazda 3, was also northbound following Semi #1, and was unable to stop in time due to the ice and snow, and collided softly into the wreck. There were seven occupants in total and only the driver of Semi #2 went to hospital with a minor foot injury. He was trapped within the semi for a short period of time before having the window smashed out to get him out.
The driver of Semi #1 had two other passengers, none of them were injured. A 33-year-old Blue River male was driving the little Mazda with two female passengers, none of whom were injured.
Highway 5 was shut down for an extended period of time as there was no way for anyone to get through the road due to the wreckage. Two local heavy towing companies were on scene recovering the smashed vehicles.
The driver of Semi #1 was hauling a trailer van full of electronics for Best Buy. The driver of Semi #2 was hauling a steel container with minimal damage to the trailer.
Significant Highway closure due to vehicles blocking highway. Road conditions consisted of four inches of compact ice and snow. Photos of the scene were obtained and an accident investigation report forwarded to ICBC.
Weather conditions and driver inexperience were determined to be contributing factors in this incident. This was yet another accident that could have been much worse than it actually was.
Clearwater RCMP responded to 34 calls for service this past week.
Sgt. G.D. Simpson is the detachment commander at the Clearwater RCMP detachment. Anyone with information on a crime is encouraged to call Clearwater RCMP at 250-674-2237 or to report anonymously, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.