A B.C. man has been charged in connection with a crash that claimed the life of well-known retired Abbotsford police sergeant Shinder Kirk late last year.
A single count of driving without due care and attention under the Motor Vehicle Act was sworn against 23-year-old Conrad Nikolaus Wetten on Nov. 15.
It’s alleged Wetten was behind the wheel of an eastbound Ford pickup truck when it collided head-on with a westbound Chevrolet pickup truck driven by Kirk on Cedar Road in south Nanaimo on Dec. 22, 2018.
The crash happened about one kilometre from the Cedar Road bypass and Highway 1.
Kirk, who was 59 years old, died at the scene. Two of his four passengers were airlifted to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries. The other two escaped with only minor injuries.
Wetten and his female passenger suffered minor injuries and did not require hospitalization.
Kirk was a long-time fixture in the Lower Mainland gang war, serving as media spokesperson for the Abbotsford Police Department, the Integrated Gang Task Force and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU).
At the time of the crash, Nanaimo RCMP said alcohol and speed were not contributing factors but weather and road conditions had not been ruled out.
Wetten’s first court appearance is set for Dec. 17 in Nanaimo.
In a separate incident on Dec. 10, 2018 — less than two weeks before the crash that killed Kirk — Wetten was stopped by South Island Highway Patrol RCMP in Ladysmith and accused of excessive speeding, driving without current number plates, and failing as a new driver to display his “N”.
A violation ticket on the trio of traffic offences was sworn against him on March 5.
Wetten is scheduled to appear in court in Duncan on Dec. 18 on the Ladysmith charges.