WATCH ABOVE: Today, an Edmonton police officer learned his fate after being charged with dangerous driving causing death in a 2012 crash. Eric Szeto reports.
EDMONTON — An Edmonton police officer was found not guilty of causing a car crash that killed an 84-year-old woman.
Chris Luimes learned his fate on Friday in an Edmonton court, where the judge ruled there was not enough evidence to convict him on a charge of dangerous driving causing death.
“While the collision was a tragic event and took the life of one driver and left Const. Luimes permanently disabled, his driving was not a criminal act,” said Justice John Little.
Court heard that Luimes, 37, was on duty and behind the wheel of an unmarked police car at the time of the March 2012 crash.
Anne Walden was making a left turn in south Edmonton, when the 84-year-old woman’s car was struck by a vehicle driven by Luimes. She died at the scene.
The constable was taking part in a surveillance mission and was racing to catch up with a suspected gold thief. Luimes was in plain clothes and driving an unmarked car with its lights and siren off.
Luimes was driving 117 km/h — twice the legal speed limit — at the time of the collision at 75 Street and 76 Avenue.
Luimes testified during his trial that he has no memory of the crash or the moment leading up to it. Court heard he broke a leg and two vertebrae and will never be able to run again. He now works as a police dispatcher.
The judge said expert evidence showed that Luimes did hit his brakes and tried to avoid the collision. But if he had been driving the speed limit, or just slightly over, the crash would have been a fender-bender and no one would have been hurt.
Little pointed out that police are allowed to speed while on duty. Between 2012 and 2014, 41 cases were recorded of city officers driving 50 km/h over posted limits. Investigations showed they were all justified.
An ASIRT investigation lead to the charge, which could have resulted in a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.
With files from Slav Kornik, Global News and The Canadian Press.
Comments