Cop in crash accused of drunk driving
An off-duty Edmonton city police constable faces a rash of drinking and driving charges after police allege that the BMW he was driving blew through a red light early Sunday morning and T-boned a pickup truck.
By The Edmonton JournalMay 12, 2008
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An off-duty Edmonton city police constable faces a rash of drinking and driving charges after police allege that the BMW he was driving blew through a red light early Sunday morning and T-boned a pickup truck.
Several people in the truck were injured, one of them severely.
A police spokesman said Douglas Kurtis Brown, 29, was driving his BMW 745i southbound on 75th Street when he went through a red light at the Whitemud overpass.
At that moment, an eastbound Ford pickup truck was attempting to make a left turn and Brown's car smashed into the driver side of the pickup truck.
The truck then burst into flames.
Robert Wasyliw, the 18-year-old driver of the pickup, was taken to hospital with a broken collarbone and severe burns to his back.
Wasyliw's girlfriend, who was sitting in the truck's passenger seat, needed stitches to the face and one of her eyes was almost swollen shut, Wasyliw's father Mike said. Wasyliw's two male friends, who were in the back seat of his crew cab, suffered minor injuries.
Brown and the male and two females in his BMW ranged in age from 19 to 29, police spokeswoman Karen Carlson said.
They suffered only minor injuries.
"We have confirmed that alcohol was a factor," said Carlson. "Speed is also considered to have been a factor."
The crash occurred at 2:15 a.m. At noon, crash investigators with the Edmonton Police Service, assisted by RCMP, still had the intersection closed.
Among other things, a police cruiser took several runs in a southbound direction, then slammed on its brakes to lock the wheels to determine traction on the dry pavement.
Wasyliw almost burned to death when his truck caught fire, his father said.
The vehicle was over on its driver's side and Robert Wasyliw's arm was pinned between the pavement and the door.
Three people came over and lifted the truck to get him out, Mike Wasyliw said.
"He has road rash on that arm. He was lucky. Within three to five minutes the truck was totally engulfed," he said.
"I would like to know who those people were who turned the truck up."
When the crash occurred, Wasyliw was driving his friends home to the Ottewell area after a late-night snack at a Denny's on Calgary Trail.
Mike Wasyliw says his son must now spend at least one week in the University of Alberta Hospital's burn unit undergoing skin grafts to his back and side.
Hours after the crash, Wasyliw's Ford pickup sat on its wheels, sideways in the southbound lane of the overpass.
A fire which appears to have started in its engine compartment had spread and engulfed the truck's passenger area.
The entire structure of the truck had been bent by the force of the collision.
A bag of golf clubs, a golf hat and a pair of golf shoes lay on the pavement beside the truck.
The front end of the BMW had been crushed by the force of the impact and the vehicle's air bags had deployed. A sales consultant at Edmonton BMW estimated the age of the BMW as 2004 to 2006.
"A BMW 745i that age goes for $50,000 to $55,000," said the sales consultant, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A brand-new BMW 745i costs $120,000, the sales consultant said.
Carlson said there were several witnesses to the crash.
It may also have been caught on video. A tall pole on the overpass is topped with three video cameras.
Brown, a three-year veteran with the Edmonton Police Service, has been suspended with pay as he awaits his day in court.
He has been charged with three counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, three counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm and driving with a blood alcohol level in excess of .08.
jfarrell@thejournal.canwest.com
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