The 32-year-old Abbotsford man accused of crashing his sports car head on into a van full of young children last Tuesday (May 6) does not have a valid driver’s license, confirm police.
The white Nissan he was driving also didn’t have insurance, said Langley RCMP.
The driver remains in hospital suffering from several broken bones caused in the crash.
“We have obtained a blood warrant,” confirmed Cpl. Holly Marks.
At the time of the 5:30 p.m. crash, police believed alcohol and speed were factors.
The scenario couldn’t have been worse — a car driving at a high rate of speed is believed to have run a red light and slam head on into a daycare van carrying five young children and a mother.
Everyone survived the crash, with all the children checked out in hospital and released. All five kids are home. The driver of the van, who is mother to two of the kids inside her van, is also home from hospital and she is expected to make a full recovery, said police.
Many witnesses to the crash at 264 Street and 56 Avenue, north of Highway 1, who heard sounds of the children’s cries, saw the van driver suffering a seizure on the ground and then found out the driver of the other vehicle walked away from the scene with a 12-pack of beer under his arm, were left with highly-charged emotions.
More than 35 comments have been written about this story on The Times website, via Facebook.
The stories of how many people stopped to help is remarkable.
Lance Childs posted on The Times website that three of his children, aged six and five-year-old twins, were in the van that was struck.
He thanks the “heroes” who comforted his children after the crash.
One woman who stopped at the crash saw how distraught the children of the driver were and, being a grandmother herself, went in and held them, comforting them until paramedics came.
Childs also thanked those who tracked down the driver of the Nissan. Many stopped to help, staying with the driver and the children until emergency crews arrived.
One witness said her heart goes out to the daycare provider and mother who was driving the van. The witness said she watched the van driver get out, check on all the kids, get them out and to safety, before collapsing to the ground and having a seizure, likely from shock.
While many witnesses were helping the kids and woman in the van, a Black Press reporter who happened to be at the nearby McDonald’s at the time, watched the driver of the sports car crawl out his vehicle, through the T-bar roof, and start collecting his belongings in a plastic bag.
The driver then went back to his car, grabbed a 12-pack of beer and walked over to the fast food restaurant. The reporter followed him.
The driver was limping from a compound fracture to his leg and bleeding from his hand.
He ordered himself a meal and called himself a taxi.
Witnesses said the driver appeared extremely impaired and seemed oblivious to the fact that a bone was sticking out of his leg.
It’s alleged that witnesses to the crash sent the taxi away.
Traffic reconstructionists were at the scene for hours and numerous witnesses have been interviewed. The investigation is ongoing, said Marks. It may take a while to see if charges will be laid, she said.
