A man was taken to hospital with serious, but non-life threatening injuries after he was struck by a suspected impaired driver on the Island Highway north of Lantzville on Jan. 11.
A number of damaged vehicles were pulled over on the side of the road when the tow truck driver was struck by a passing van, which fled the scene, according to a media release from BC Highway Patrol.
Witnesses provided a licence plate for the van, which was located by BCHP officers in Nanoose Bay about 30 minutes later, parked beside a road with a man behind the wheel. Police determined that the man was impaired by alcohol. He was arrested and taken to the BCHP office where he provided breath samples in excess of three times over the legal limit, according to the release.
The man faces potential Criminal Code charges of impaired driving causing bodily harm and failing to remain at the scene of an accident. He remains in custody at this time. The vehicle was seized and will undergo a forensic examination, police said.
Police urge drivers to slow down and move over for designated vehicles to give workers a safe area to operate in.
Anyone with information about this collision, including any dashboard camera video, can contact BC Highway Patrol in Parksville at 250-954-2953 and reference file 2022-25.
