A man who'd been charged with dangerous driving causing death has been acquitted more than four years after the fatal Kelowna crash occurred, despite admitting in a separate civil matter that the crash was caused by his negligence.
A 30-year-old Burnaby man was killed in a serious crash in the early morning hours of Aug. 13, 2019 at the intersection of Harvey Avenue and Cooper Road.
At the time, police said a Cadillac SUV travelling east on Harvey collided with a Honda Accord travelling north on Cooper. The driver of the Honda was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to a 2020 Vancouver Sun article, Ronald Thomson, now 80 years old, was initially charged under the Motor Vehicle Act with driving without due care and attention and failing to obey a traffic control signal. He was not initially charged under the Criminal Code.
Speaking with the Vancouver Sun, the family of 30-year-old Devon Marock said they were left devastated by the Crown's decision.
But in October 2020, the BC Prosecution Service instead charged Thomson with the criminal offence of dangerous driving causing death. Thomson pleaded guilty to the charge a short time later, on Nov. 30, 2020.
A few months later, Thomson instead applied to take back his guilty plea. On Jan. 6, 2022, a judge granted Thomson's withdrawal of the plea and the trial went ahead this past October. Following the five-day trial, Thomson was acquitted of the charge this past Monday.
Back in 2019, Cpl. Meghan Foster of the Kelowna RCMP said “drugs and alcohol are not factors in this crash.”
Marock's family filed civil lawsuits against Thomson back in July 2021, claiming Thomson “t-boned” Marock's Honda after failing to stop for a red light at the intersection. In a filed response to the suit, Thomson says he “admits, for the purpose of this action only, that the collision occurred as a result of the defendant, Ronald William Thomson's negligent operation of the Cadillac.”
It's not clear where that civil matter now stands, but this past September, Thomson filed his own suit against ICBC, alleging the insurer has breached their contract by refusing to insure Thomson in the crash.
In the claim, Thomson says ICBC issued a letter to him in January 2021 stating that because he had been convicted of a criminal offence in the matter, his insurance coverage was voided.
After Thomson successfully withdrew his guilty plea, he says ICBC must now pay him for the value of his totalled vehicle. ICBC has yet to formally respond to Thomson's suit.
