VANCOUVER — A criminal charge has been laid against a young man who Vancouver police allege was travelling at 250 kilometres per hour before he crashed his parents new Mercedes.
Const. Brian Montague says crash investigators believe the man, who was then 18 years old, was going at five times the speed limit.
He says the driver was relatively unharmed, but the 17-year-old male passenger had extensive head and facial injuries and broken bones.
The car was westbound on S.W. Marine Drive at 3:00 a.m. on April 12th, 2015, when the driver crashed into someone’s front yard near 57th Avenue. It was almost an hour before someone located them and called for help.
The driver was treated in hospital and released the following day. The passenger was in hospital for some time to recover from head trauma, facial fractures, brain swelling, a fractured arm, and possible eye damage.
Preliminary examination of the damage and debris field led police to believe the car was travelling at a high rate of speed. After an extensive investigation, the VPD Collision Investigation Unit provided a report to Crown recommending criminal charges.
That report included evidence suggesting the driver was allegedly travelling in excess of five times the speed limit when he lost control of the vehicle.
Yue Hui Wang, who's now 19, was arrested when he arrived at Vancouver's airport from China and has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
Wang was ordered to surrender his passport and has conditions not to be found in the driver’s seat of any vehicle.
Montague says it is his understanding that he was returning to Canada from China to take part in a ceremony for his Canadian citizenship.