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NOVEMBER 28, 2014
TRI-CITIES
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No charges in crash that killed two Jeremy DEUTSCH
Chung noted since no charges were approved, police would not be jdeutsch@thenownews.com releasing any more information. Following the incident, police On Nov. 27, 2013 the entire community was shocked by a deadly confirmed they had arrested the hit-and-run that took the lives of driver, but he was later released two seniors. Juan Rosales, 76, and after an interview. Police also said at the time that Marta Rosales, 66, a married couple investigators didn’t fromCoquitlam, were believe speed or killed as they crossed alcohol were factors Austin Avenue near in the crash. Gatensbury Street We take as much Several media just after 3:30 p.m. outlets identified that day. time as required the man behind the The driver of a to investigate wheel as a 90-yearDodge Ram, believed and examine old veteran, includto be in his 90s, ing a CBC News allegedly took off every piece of story that stated the after the incident evidence. alleged driver had a and was never offihistory of two prior cially identified or – Coquitlam RCMP hit-and-run invescharged with a crimConst. Jamie Chung tigations. The Triinal offence. Cities NOW is choosOne year later, the Tri-Cities NOW has learned char- ing not to identify the alleged driver ges are not being considered in the since no charges have been laid. A call to the provincial Crown case. Coquitlam Mounties confirmed spokesperson for comment was not that Crown counsel decided last returned prior to press deadline. SFU criminologist Robert Gordon week it would not pursue charges explained there are two criteria against the driver. “Whenever someone [has] died Crown can apply when making a or [is] seriously injured in relation decision to prosecute: The likelito a crash, we take the investiga- hood of a conviction and whether a tion very seriously and exercise due prosecution is in the public interest. In the case of the likelihood of a diligence,” RCMP Cpl. Jamie Chung wrote in an e-mail to the Tri-Cities conviction, he suggested it’s deterNOW. “We take as much time as mined by the quality of the evidence, required to investigate and examine which includes police searching for every piece of evidence. This file witnesses and speaking to the indiis no exemption. Both during the viduals involved. Gordon said in some cases involvinvestigation and after the report to Crown was submitted, we had ing seniors, they may have a “dimina number of meetings with Crown ished capacity” and not be aware of counsel. Last week Crown advised what was going on at the time. As for the public interest, the SFU it would not be in [the] public interest to approve charges against the professor said that’s trickier since policies vary from case to case. driver.”
A roadside memorial marks the spot where Juan and Marta Rosales died in a hit-and-run crash. “If people understood the kind of weighting of prosecution that occurs when a Crown council report actually gets to Crown council — they weigh things very carefully,” Gordon said. “And sometimes cases that appear at first blush to be open and shut end up being not pursued because there is some piece missing.” Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart, who was at the scene of the crash that day, said he can’t speak for Crown or RCMP, but insisted he had full faith they weighed all the facts in the case before coming to a
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conclusion. “This was a tragedy in so many ways. As I understand it, there are many victims in a tragedy like this,” he said. In light of the crash, Stewart noted the city has looked at changes to the intersection. Specifically, he suggested a T-intersection like the one at Austin and Gatensbury can be particularly challenging because both vehicles and pedestrians have a signal to go. One option is to eliminate the crosswalk at the left side of the intersection. “We’re examining a range of
options to see if this intersection can be made safer,” Stewart said. There have been several cases in recent years where deadly crashes have not resulted in charges. Last year, police decided not to charge an elderly driver who was behind the wheel of a car that killed another senior, Carmelle Peart, as she walked along the sidewalk on Austin near Safeway. The driver apparently got his foot stuck on the accelerator, but did remain at the scene. Crown decided there was no substantial likelihood a judge would find the driver guilty.
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