He doesn’t have a driver’s license, collided his car with a motorcycle while making an illegal U-turn, and then got his female passenger to take the wheel while he hid in the bushes.
But little did this 48-year-old Alberta man know that off-duty Vancouver Police Sgt. Mark Tonner saw the whole thing.
It all took place on Wednesday, July 3, in what was to be the second hit-and-run incident of the day in Langley.
Around 2:30 p.m., a motorcycle collided with a Pontiac Sunfire, whose driver was attempting to make a U-turn over a double solid line on Rawlison Crescent. The motorcycle and Pontiac were westbound on Rawlison. The motorcycle operator said the Pontiac suddenly made a U-Turn and the collision was unavoidable, said police.
The motorcycle collided with the front driver’s side quarter panel, causing the operator to lose control, and he ended up on his back. There was a significant amount of damage to his motorbike, said police. The biker wasn’t hurt, though.
The driver of the vehicle was seen switching places with a female passenger before he fled the vehicle. VPD’s Tonner, who wrote an op-ed column on policing in The Province newspaper for years, was in Langley and saw the whole thing. He followed the vehicle to 88 Avenue and Glover Road, while advising Langley RCMP of their locations.
Tonner told police the female remained in the driver’s seat and the original driver was now hiding in some nearby bushes.
Langley officers were able to locate the man, who was issued violation tickets for failing to remain at the scene of a collision, driving without a valid driver’s license and driving without due care and attention.
