It was just before 3 a.m. Friday – when people living along 58th Ave. SW in Calgary’s Windsor Park neighbourhood may have been awoken by a chaotic scene unfolding on the street in front of their homes.
Calgary Police say a BMW sedan was attempting to flee its officers — when it turned off McLeod Trail, before crashing into a parked vehicle — causing a chain reaction that ended up damaging eight vehicles in total, including the driver’s own.
The man police say was behind the wheel — 19-year-old Kane Anignostis Burrows — was charged with a pair of impaired driving offenses, as well as two counts of failing to comply with a release order.
Court documents show that release order stems from a December 2024 crash just minutes away from where this most recent incident happened, along Glenmore Trail.
In that crash, police say another high-end BMW crashed into the back of a parked crane, killing an 18-year-old passenger and seriously injuring another.
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In March, Burrows was charged with impaired driving causing death among several other offenses.
Among the conditions on his release order, Burrows was ordered not to consume alcohol and not to drive.
“You assume that even when his friend passed away in the first accident, that would have acted as some kind of suggestion to him that he shouldn’t be doing it — that there would be some kind of remorse,” explained Doug King, a Criminal Justice professor at Mount Royal University.
“So it tells me there’s a whole heck of a lot going on with this guy.”
King says in the overwhelming majority of cases like this involving young offenders, friends and family in their social circle step up to ensure something similar never happens again.
“Family and friends, I think, have got to see this as a warning sign for the individual and if they care about him they start to take action.”
In cases where that may not seem likely to judges, King suggests resources may put the justice system in a tough spot.
“The reason for that is limitation of space,” King said. “There are more people being held in (remand centres) today than there are in prisons in Canada.”
Burrows appeared in Calgary court on Monday on these latest charges — and King says this process will likely carry a different tone than the previous one did, despite the severity of the charges in the December incident.
“We’re in a different ballpark now — we’re looking at two similar charges, and courts do not like it when someone violates a condition of bail.”
Burrows will appear back in court on Aug. 18 for both cases.
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