A 33-year-old Nanaimo man who crashed a Columbia Fuels tanker truck on the Malahat and dumped gasoline and diesel into Goldstream River will appear in court Thursday — for assaulting a police officer.
West Shore RCMP arrested the man at Victoria General Hospital on April 16 on suspicion of impaired driving. During the arrest, he allegedly assaulted an RCMP officer.
As for the impaired driving charge and charges related to the crash, RCMP South Island Traffic Services has yet to forward its findings to Crown counsel at the Colwood courthouse, but expects to by the end of this month.
“We are in the process of putting together a substantial (evidence) package,” said RCMP Sgt. Andre Dentoom. “Everything is still under investigation, but it’s moving along.”
Dentoom said investigators are waiting for blood sample tests to return from the lab. The RCMP report also contains analysis of the Columbia Fuels truck’s condition prior to the crash and its maintenance history.
Dentoom said Crown prosecutors will likely wait to receive reports on the incident from other agencies, such as Environment Canada, the B.C. Ministry of Environment and WorksafeBC to determine how the driver would be prosecuted.
“This is a high priority for the unit. We want to get it done,” he said.
Columbia Fuels has confirmed the driver no longer works for the company. Columbia would not say if the driver was fired.
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