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Fifty-one-year-old male faces three charges under motor vehicle act, and one cannabis fine

Sitting on his couch early Thursday morning, Ryan Morven heard a terrible screech from outside his home.
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On Dec. 27, at 6:30 a.m., a van crashed into a driveway with three parked vehicles at the bottom of Sloan Avenue in Prince Rupert. (Ryan Morven photo)

Sitting on his couch early Thursday morning, Ryan Morven heard a terrible screech from outside his home.

It was Dec. 27, at approximately 6:30 a.m., when he peeked through the blinds and saw steam and smoke coming from his driveway.

“I ran out to see what happened and I opened the front door and there was quite the mix up,” Morven said.

Despite the cold and wet morning, he ran outside in his socks, and saw a man in his 50s trying to get out of his van from the passenger side. He proceeded to run, and Morven chased him down, socks and all. He grabbed the man by the scruff of his shirt and walking him back to the scene.

When Morven took the suspect back to his van, he said he saw a couple of beer cans in the vehicle, and it smelled like marijuana.

Staff Sgt. Jagdev Uppal said the 51-year-old male has been given a number of charges under the Motor Vehicle Act. “We arrived at the scene and located the four vehicles that had been damaged, including the suspect vehicle. The individual was located a short distance away and was taken into custody at that time.”

READ MORE: Weather a factor for flipped vehicle near Oliver Lake

The man was charged under the motor vehicle act with driving without due care, driving without consideration, liquor in a motor vehicle, failure to remain at the scene of the accident, and possession of more than 30 grams of dried cannabis in a public place under the cannabis control and licensing. Police did not lay any criminal charges. In total, he was fined $1,392.

Morven is now left with the damage to his property. He lives on the bottom of Sloan Avenue on the corner, and in the four years he’s lived there, he’s said there have been other incidents where cars have slid into his yard due to icy conditions. However, this was not the case here.

“He tore up my retaining wall, just jumped right over that. He just flew right over my lawn, into my driveway, T-boned my truck, and hit my wife’s car in the front end, hit my son’s car, and did driveway damage and another retaining wall. He was going pretty fast,” Morven said.

Morven’s truck is a complete write-off, and he estimates his wife’s vehicle will cost $6-8,000 to repair, and another couple of thousand for his son’s car. There was also damage to his property.

But what disturbed Morven the most was the timing of the crash.

“It sickens me to think that 20 minutes later, I would have been in my truck waiting for it to warm up, getting ready for work,” he said.

Read more RCMP briefs here.

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Shannon Lough | Editor
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