Police confirmed immediately that alcohol is a suspected as a factor, but don’t expect charges to be laid soon in connection with a deadly crash in Ladner that claimed the life of a 19-year-old last Saturday night.
It could take months, at least, for any charges to be laid in connection with the suspected drunk driving accident on Highway 17A that killed Olivia Malcom.
RCMP Sgt. Lorne Lecker of the Deas Island Traffic Services said although police are proceeding as an impaired driving causing death investigation, such cases are complex.
“These are very slow investigations. We have to wait for the coroner’s report to come in, mechanical reports to come in, the collision analyst report to come in, so these things can take up to a year. We’re hoping for less than that,” he told the Optimist.
That information will eventually be given to Crown, which has to review those findings, Lecker said.
The two-vehicle collision occurred just north of Ladner Trunk Road around 10 p.m.
According to RCMP, a northbound vehicle in which Malcom was a passenger in was stopped at the side of the highway.
Lecker said there were three occupants in the car. The male driver, Malcom’s boyfriend, pulled over to the shoulder at the bus stop and stayed in the vehicle while Malcom and a female friend got out to check for something in the trunk.
Both women were behind the vehicle when it was struck from behind by a northbound Jeep.
Malcom, who had reportedly been at a lacrosse game between the Delta Islanders and New Westminster Salmonbellies at the Ladner Leisure Centre, was pronounced dead at the scene, while her friend, 20, was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The Jeep driver remained at the scene and cooperated.
Lecker said police are interviewing witnesses but are still seeking others, especially those who have dash cams. Anyone with information is asked to call 778-290-2400 and quote file number 2018-1802.
Malcom, a member of the New Westminster lacrosse community, was just a few days away from her 20th birthday. A GoFundMe page has been set up for the Olivia Malcom Kindness Bursary in her honour.
The page, which had raised more than $79,000 since Monday, can be found at www.gofundme.com/omkindness.
A celebration of life is planned for Queens Park Arena in New Westminster this Sunday at 2 p.m.
