By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Nanaimo police believe speed and alcohol played roles in fatal crash

Mar 23, 2018 | 12:19 PM

NANAIMO — A passenger is dead and a driver under investigation following a single-vehicle crash in Nanaimo, which police believe involved alcohol and speed.

Nanaimo RCMP Cst. Gary O’Brien said it happened Thursday at 9:30 p.m. on Boxwood Rd. near Tulsa Rd., involving an eastbound 2008 BMW.

“The driver lost control, struck the curb, the vehicle flipped and ended up striking two parked cars,” O’Brien told NanaimoNewsNOW. “The passenger was declared deceased at scene, the driver was able to extricate himself from the car.”

The car traveled several metres into a parking lot after hitting the curb and landed on top of the parked vehicles so hard it moved a nearby storage container a few feet. The owner of one of the parked vehicles told NanaimoNewsNOW it was unrecognizable and flattened like a pancake.

O’Brien said a 38-year-old man was killed.

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The driver, a 27-year-old man, was taken to and released from Nanaimo Hopsital with minor injuries.

“Based on a number of factors, which include talking to several witnesses, the scene examination and observations of the driver, we believe alcohol and speed were contributing factors,” O’Brien said, adding it is now being treated as a criminal investigation.

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