Emergency crews were kept very busy early Wednesday evening, after two consecutive and related motor vehicle collisions stalled traffic along Harvey Avenue (Highway 97) between Gordon Drive and Chandler Street in Kelowna.
On Oct.24 at 6:30 p.m., the Kelowna RCMP general duty and municipal traffic sections responded to a report of a hit and run collision in the intersection of Gordon Drive and Harvey Avenue. Police were told that a blue Dodge Calibre had been northbound on Gordon Drive when it was struck in the intersection by a southbound silver Toyota Corolla.
“The driver of the Toyota sedan allegedly failed to stop or remain at the scene of the crash and fled eastbound along Harvey Avenue,” said Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey, in a press release.
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“A short distance away, the already damaged hit and run suspect vehicle veered into the centre median of the highway and further collided with a tree, before it came to final rest in the centre lane of the eastbound lanes.”
Due to the extent of the damages, the driver and sole occupant of the Toyota Corolla had to be extracted from his motor vehicle by the Kelowna Fire Department.
“During their interaction with the driver at the scene, specially trained investigators of the RCMP detected symptoms of suspected drug impairment. As a result, a demand was made which required the driver to submit to a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) evaluation,” said O’Donaghey.
The driver of the Toyota, a 47-year-old Kelowna man, was later released from police custody. He now faces a number of potential impaired driving related criminal charges.
The driver and passenger of the Dodge Caliber each sustained minor non-life threatening injuries, and were medically assessed at the scene by emergency paramedics of the BC Ambulance Service. The driver was later transported to hospital as a pre-caution.
Collision investigators of the Kelowna RCMP Municipal Traffic Section are asking additional witnesses to come forward. If you witnessed either crash and have not yet spoken to police you are urged to contact the Kelowna RCMP Municipal Traffic Section at 250-762-3300.
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