By Bethany Lindsay, Vancouver Sun
ABBOTSFORD — A Surrey RCMP constable has been found guilty of lying to ICBC about what caused him to crash his pickup truck on an icy winter day.
James Steven Baker told an insurance adjuster that a dark sedan struck his Dodge Ram early in the morning of Dec. 10, 2013, causing him to spin out of control and into a ditch on 64th Avenue.
But a City of Surrey salt truck driver witnessed the accident and said there was no other vehicle in the area that morning. Instead, he testified that Baker was speeding when he used the snow-covered centre island of the road to pass the slow-moving salt truck, and lost control when he tried to return to the right lane.
An ICBC investigator examined Baker’s truck after the crash and found no evidence that it had been hit by another vehicle.
Baker was charged with providing false or misleading information under the Insurance (Vehicle) Act, which carries a maximum penalty of a $25,000 fine and/or two years in jail.
In a decision issued Tuesday, Abbotsford provincial court Judge Kenneth Skilnick wrote that he accepted the salt truck driver’s version of the events over Baker’s.
“I also find that when (Baker) gave the information that he gave to the ICBC adjuster, he knew that material portions of the statement were false. Specifically, he knew that there was no second vehicle which struck him and which was the cause of his accident,” Skilnick said.
Baker was suspended from duty last year after he was charged, and his sidearm, badge and police ID were taken from him. Surrey RCMP did not respond to questions about his current status before press time.
A sentencing hearing for Baker is scheduled for Nov. 20.
blindsay@vancouversun.com
