No charges are being laid in connection to the death of a pedestrian on Princess Street in December 2023.
On the afternoon of Dec. 10, a pedestrian died after being struck by the driver of a vehicle in the 700 block of Princess Street.
In a May 2, 2024 statement to the Record, the New Westminster Police Department stated its Major Crime Unit found “no criminal culpability” regarding the incident.
“This was a tragic event,” said NWPD Sgt. Andrew Leaver. “Our Major Crime Unit and the Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service worked for several months on this investigation. This included reviewing video, interviewing the driver, witnesses, and considering all other evidence available. No criminal wrongdoing was found.”
At the time of the death, a NWPD news release said patrol officers had been called to the site regarding an unresponsive pedestrian who had been struck by a driver of a vehicle. The driver remained at the scene.
“This is a tragic event, and our thoughts are with the family of this individual,” Leaver said at the time. “We have a large team of investigators working together to determine how this happened, but we are still in the early stages at this point.”
Last week, residents contacted the Record after another pedestrian was struck on Princess Street. The pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Many Princes Street residents have expressed concern about pedestrian safety on the stretch of the road running between Sixth and Eighth streets.
As of May 2, 595 people had signed an online petition launched on Dec. 10, 2023: Make Princess Street Safer by Creating a Pedestrian Controlled Crosswalk.
In response to last week’s incident, the Record contacted New Westminster City Hall for an update on its review of Princess Street.
“We acknowledge the community’s concern about pedestrian safety on Princess Street,” Mike Anderson, the city’s manager of transportation, said in an email to the Record. “The city has commissioned an engineering safety review of this portion of Princess Street, and that work is well underway. We are expecting to receive the findings and recommendations from that review in late May or early June and we are committed to acting on recommendations in collaboration with Princess Street residents and property managers.”
