A Maple Ridge man who hit three cars and crashed through a highway median during one disastrous drive was sentenced to an 18-month driving prohibition and a 12-month probation order by a judge Feb. 28 in North Vancouver provincial court.
Daniel Sistani, 53, was sentenced after pleading guilty to a charge of dangerous driving.
Court heard Sistani had been drinking beer and scotch during a five-hour stint at the Royal Canadian Legion on West 15th Street in North Vancouver on March 18, 2017 when he got into his car in the underground parkade. Instead of easing the car into reverse, Sistani accelerated into a concrete post and hit a parked car where a woman was waiting for her husband.
After exchanging information, the witness eventually called the police, reporting Sistani appeared drunk and unsteady, according to Crown counsel Snover Bains.
Sistani got back in his car and headed south on Highway 1, tailgating and then sideswiping another driver whose side-view mirror was “sheared off,” Bains said.
Approaching the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing, Sistani drove through the median and wound up in the northbound lane. Bains quoted a witness driving northbound at the time who hit the brakes and collided with Sistani.
Sistani took off from the scene of the crash and was arrested that same evening at the driveway of a nearby Tim Hortons, the court heard. Witnesses described him bleeding from multiple cuts to his head and staggering.
Sistani appeared unable to comprehend simple commands and failed to provide a breath sample, said Bains.
Speaking to the court, Sistani said he lacked the vocabulary to adequately apologize.
“Words are not enough to express my sadness,” he said, adding he was glad no one was killed or suffered a serious injury.
The incident was a “wake-up call” for Sistani, according to his lawyer Sarah Leamon.
Sistani has struggled with depression and anxiety, Leamon said. Since the crash, he’s completed a 12-step Alcoholics Anonymous program and undergone counselling at his own expense.
“Since this event he has almost completely turned his life around,” Leamon said.
Leamon also produced numerous letters from Sistani’s co-workers praising his work ethic and integrity.
While Bains and Leamon agreed on an 18-month driving ban, they differed on whether the sentence should include a probation order, which would leave Sistani with a criminal record, or a conditional discharge, which wouldn’t.
The sole breadwinner in his household, Sistani frequently takes family trips to Washington State, Leamon told the court, explaining her client feared those trips would be impossible with a criminal record.
In his decision, Judge Patrick Doherty noted several mitigating factors including Sistani’s good character, lack of a criminal record, as well as his decision to plead guilty and avoid what was scheduled to be a six day trial.
Doherty also referred to Sistani’s difficult background, which included fleeing Iran as a political refugee in 1986 following the jailing of his activist sister.
“Mr. Sistani has done quite a bit to better himself since this accident,” he said. “I cannot see him ever committing this type of offence again.”
However, Doherty ultimately sentenced Sistani to 12 months of probation.
“The driving is just too aggravating . . . plus it involved significant alcohol consumption, numerous accidents and outrageous driving.”
