A drunk driver whose highway assault through Richmond, Vancouver and Burnaby caused nearly $ 35,000 in damage will not serve time in jail for the January 8 crime spree captured by his own dash cam.
Siu Wei Leung, 62, was charged with dangerous driving, drunk driving and failing to stop at the crash site.
The damning video was released by Burnaby RCMP last week in an effort to warn against drunk driving while on vacation.
“We definitely thought he would have a little jail time,” said Mark Bailey, whose Burnaby property suffered water damage after the driver crashed into a fire hydrant, “thinking about what might have happened if he didn’t. they would have stopped. “
Leung received a one-year driving ban, a $ 1,000 finding and six months probation after pleading guilty to driving under the influence on August 23. The other two charges were suspended.
“It seems a lot lower than he should have suffered because of the amount of damage he did that night,” Bailey told Global News Sunday.
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New dash cam video shows drunk driver’s journey from Richmond to Burnaby
Jail time is not the norm on a first conviction for a drunk driving offense, according to criminal attorney Kyla Lee, who said a one-year driving ban, a $ 1,000 fine and an automatic criminal record is the mandatory minimum sentence.
“In this case, the sentence is harsh because it includes the addition of a six-month probationary period,” Lee told Global News.
Leung must meet a number of court-ordered conditions, including performing 50 hours of community service.
The evidence from his Cadillac Escalade’s dash cam was “overwhelming,” Lee said. “It’s probably one of the worst dash cameras I’ve ever seen.”
The trail of destruction captured on video showed the SUV repeatedly crossing the center line into oncoming traffic, dodging pedestrians, bypassing other vehicles, entering and crossing a ditch, running a red light, and striking vehicles. stationed and the fire hydrant, which sent water gushing into the houses.
“He hit the fire hydrant and kept trying to drive,” Bailey said. “If there were people out there, they could easily have killed someone.”
After causing the flooding, Leung drove for nearly a kilometer before blowing a stop sign and colliding with another near Gilley Avenue.
When RCMP caught up with him, his SUV was damaged and a tire was missing.
Police said it caused approximately $ 28,000 in flood damage and more than $ 6,600 in property damage to the City of Burnaby.
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Bailey’s basement suffered flood damage of about $ 3,000. Another neighbor’s home was damaged by more than $ 10,000 when his patio and tenant’s suite were flooded.
“There was a small river that ran down each side of our house. He took out our runway, ”Bailey told Global News.
Lee said ICBC will try to recoup those costs from Leung.
“Due to the number of collisions in this case and the significant amount of damage that occurred while driving, the insurance-related consequences for this person will be enormous,” he said.
Court documents list Leung’s address as a luxury home in Burnaby’s Buckingham Heights neighborhood, valued at $ 2.25 million in 2020.
A middle-aged man who answered the door Sunday declined to comment when he was shown a copy of Leung’s parole order.
Then a younger man came to the door and claimed he knew nothing about Leung or the drunk driving charge.
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Reference-globalnews.ca