35-year-old Joel Francisco Salazar of Lantzville was given a ten-month sentence to be served in the community, after a 2022 hit-and-run incident in Lantzville which left a couple and their two dogs with significant injuries. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

in-community sentence

Man avoids jail for 2022 hit-and-run on Lantzville couple and dogs

Mar 31, 2025 | 5:29 AM

NANAIMO — A 35-year-old Lantzville man will serve his sentence in the community after the vehicle he was driving hit a couple and their two dogs while they walked along a rural road in early 2022.

Joel Francisco Salazar was handed a 10-month conditional sentence order (CSO), a two-year driving ban and a $1,000 fine in a B.C. provincial court in Nanaimo on Friday, March 28.

Judge Tamara Hodge read parts of a victim impact statement during sentencing which touched on the significant impact the incident has had on the lives of the couple, specifically the wife, June, who suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

“She described how mental and emotional distress that she has gone through has led to, as she described them, ‘very dark days, and rollercoasters of emotion’. Although she is grateful for surviving the collision, she has anger and daily pain and mobility issues.”

On March 4, 2022 around 3:20 p.m., a couple, identified only as Geoff and June, and their two dogs were walking on Lorenzen Lane, off the end of Superior Rd. in Lantzville when they were hit by a black SUV which turned out to be Salazar’s 2014 GMC Terrain, court records showed.

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Court heard the couple was walking single-file on the opposite side of the road when a vehicle travelling in the same direction came up from behind, entered the oncoming lane and hit June from behind, sending all of them into the ditch.

Hodge said Salazar, the driver, became distracted when he moved to retrieve a bottle of pop which fell out of the cup holder. This caused him to veer across the lane and hit the couple and their dogs.

“Mr. Salazar stopped briefly at that time of the collision as he did know he hit something, and saw white feathers. He was in a panic because he did not have a licenced driver with him, as was required by his license, and fled the scene without confirming what it was that he hit. He assumed it was a dog or a deer.”

The white feathers were from June’s down coat, which ripped when she was struck.

A photo of the couple with their two dogs who still suffer the effects of injuries sustained from the incident. (Nanaimo RCMP)

While Salazar drove off, the husband managed to get a partial license plate number and vehicle description, while tire tracks and pieces of a headlight were found at the scene.

Police seized a vehicle believed linked to the incident months later, but charges were not laid at the time.

Following a plea by police for public assistance, Salazar was charged in December 2022 following an extensive investigation.

Salazar pled guilty in August 2024 to failing to stop after an accident and failing to offer assistance, as well as dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.

However, Hodge said she was only sentencing him for failing to stop after an accident, while still taking into account the long-lasting harm done to the victims.

“Although the impact of this offence and the impact that it’s had on [June] is relevant, rather I’m sentencing him for the offence for failing to remain and provide assistance. That, in and of itself, is a serious offence and comes with the highest level of moral culpability, but a lower level of moral culpability if he had been driving dangerously or impaired at the time.”

June’s injuries included a broken clavicle and ankle, torn tendons in her knee and a suspected concussion while Geoff received soft tissue bruising. One of their dogs required knee-replacement surgery while the other was left bruised.

Hodge said June now suffers from anxiety while in a vehicle or walking in parking lots, and has been unable to go on family hikes, walk her dogs, or enjoy her rural property due to her inability to walk on uneven ground.

Salazar’s Background
Court heard how Salazar was raised in Lantzville and worked as a pipe layer prior to the incident, but has since lost his job, which he says was due to being distracted by this court matter.

A Gladue report detailed his rough upbringing, with Hodge saying it was “peppered” with abuse at the hands of family members, with domestic violence and substance abuse normalized, with members of his family on his mother’s side attending residential schools.

He reported suffering from anxiety and depression while also having suicidal thoughts and struggling with alcohol addiction while raising two children with his partner, one of which has significant medical needs.

He is currently attending Alcoholics Anonymous groups and other counselling and rehabilitative services, with Hodge saying he has expressed deep regret for the pain he has caused.

Salazar will be under 24-hour house arrest during the first six months of his sentence, and can only leave home with permission to go to work, attend to medical issues, or take care of life’s necessities or attend counselling.

He will be under a curfew order for the last four months of his sentence and must be inside his from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. daily, with the same exceptions granted under his house arrest order.

His driver’s licence, which has been suspended indefinitely during the trial, will be suspended for an additional two years anywhere in Canada during his probation period following the completion of the CSO.

He must also submit a DNA sample for the police database.

Salazar only spoke in court to say he understood the sentence.

While he did not have a criminal or driving record prior to this incident, court records showed Salazar was sentenced last year to impaired driving and driving while prohibited charges in connection to a July 2023 incident in Port Alberni.

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