A man who drove at an estimated 200 kilometres an hour while racing away from a police road block and ran a West Vancouver motorcycle officer off the road will spend 79 more days in jail as part of a six-month sentence.
Judge Doug Moss handed the jail term to Gary Singh Kang, 21, on Monday in North Vancouver provincial court after Kang pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing bodily harm on the evening of July 27, 2016.
Kang was racing downhill from the Cypress Bowl lookout at high speeds, bouncing off concrete barriers and sliding in and out of control when his car swerved into the oncoming lane just as Sgt. Mark Braithwaite was arriving on the scene, prosecutor Grace Oh told the court.
Braithwaite was forced to swerve into a ditch to avoid collision, and was thrown from his motorcycle, shearing off the windshield as he went through it, said Oh.
The officer suffered injuries to his right arm that resulted in him being off work for over two months, and still has limited use of his wrist and arm, said Oh.
Earlier that evening, West Vancouver police had set up a roadblock on Cypress Bowl Road, where the public was gathering to watch the Celebration of Light fireworks show. There was significant traffic on the road that evening, said Oh.
Around 9 p.m., officers noticed a grey Infiniti which was approaching the road block suddenly make a U-turn and head back down the hill at high speed.
One of the police officers, Const. Tyler Burchynski, got into his police car and chased Kang’s vehicle at a speed of about 120 to 130 km/h, before deciding not to go any faster, said Oh.
He estimated Kang was going about 180 km/h, said Oh.
Braithwaite was driving uphill on his motorcycle when he saw Kang’s vehicle coming towards him at estimated speeds of 180 to 200 km/h, sliding in and out of the oncoming lane of traffic, said Oh.
Braithwaite swerved into a ditch and was thrown from the motorcycle. He was taken to hospital with lacerations and bruising.
When police caught up with Kang, the tires of the Infinity were off the rims and the driver’s side tires were flat. There was also damage to the driver’s side body and bumper of the vehicle, where it had bounced off the concrete barrier, said Oh.
Kang had three passengers at the time and a smell of alcohol and marijuana were noted in the car.
Kang had been banned from driving for a year just two months before the incident for driving while prohibited in 2015. He was also on bail on at the time on another charge.
In handing down his jail sentence, Moss chastised Kang for “driving like a complete idiot.”
“The speeds were outrageous,” he said. “How (the officer) wasn’t more seriously injured than he was, I don’t know. “You’re a terrible driver and you have an absolute disregard for people using the roads,” he said.
Moss handed Kang a six-month jail sentence, but gave him credit for time spent in custody following his arrest.
In addition, Moss banned Kang from driving for three years. He will also serve one year probation.
