A 48-year-old man is facing a charge of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in bodily harm after an incident last summer in which a truck was caught on video in West Vancouver apparently sideswiping a cyclist and knocking him to the ground before taking off.
William Charlton McEachnie of West Vancouver has been charged with driving a vehicle that was involved in an accident with cyclist Eric Latta on June 10, 2017 and “knowing that bodily harm was caused to that person,” failing to stop in order to avoid liability.
McEachnie, who had an initial appearance scheduled in North Vancouver provincial court Feb. 28, has been given two weeks to consult a lawyer.
The accident happened at about 8:30 p.m. June 10, 2017 in the 1900 block of Bellevue Avenue. Latta, who was on a bike, was hit by a westbound pickup truck and thrown into nearby parked cars.
His helmet was knocked off in the collision.
Despite serious injury to the cyclist, witnesses reported at the time that the driver carried on without stopping.
Video footage of the accident, captured on a surveillance camera from a residential building across the street, showed a dark-coloured truck speeding past the cyclist, knocking him off the bicycle, then continuing to drive off at significant speed.
Latta, a real estate agent from West Vancouver who had been out for a bike ride, was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
After police released the video of the accident, the driver – accompanied by a lawyer – turned himself in to police and spoke to detectives for several hours, providing a voluntary statement, police reported at the time.
Following reports from police collision specialists, the charge was sworn against McEachnie Feb. 1.
He has not yet entered a plea to the charge and is expected back in court for a first appearance in March.
