A bystander who stopped the accused driver in a hit and run involving a grandmother pushing her infant grandson in a stroller in Squamish, B.C., last year, is stunned to learn the suspect is out on bail after allegedly breaching his release conditions by driving while impaired last month.
Jamie Powney, a father of two girls, told Global News he is speaking out because there are a lot of children who play in the neighbourhood where the incident occurred, and he wants to raise awareness about how dangerous the events he witnessed on April 22, 2024, were.
“Shock at first, and then you start thinking, ‘Is this a movie, is this really happening?’” Powney said in an interview on Friday.
The Squamish resident said he was driving home from the store when he saw a white vehicle “flying around the corner” from Pemberton Avenue onto Fourth Avenue at high speed.
“On the right-hand side of the vehicle, I saw a stroller and a baby that was wedged into the vehicle itself,” recalled Powney. “When I saw people running after the vehicle, I understood that this was a very severe, dangerous situation.”
When the vehicle passed him, Powney said he decided to follow the driver and attempt to cut him off.
“He did a 360 around the block and ended up coming right back into my direction,” he told Global News.
“I pulled my car in at an angle to stop him from moving forward.”
With his vehicle wedged in front of the suspect’s car, Powney said the driver was blocked on Fourth Avenue near Winnipeg Street, where bystanders jumped in to free the baby from the stroller that was lodged in the front of the accused’s vehicle.
The chaotic situation began blocks away at Second Avenue and Pemberton in downtown Squamish, where RCMP said a pedestrian pushing a stroller with a baby was struck in the crosswalk by a driver who allegedly failed to remain at the scene.
“I made sure that he wasn’t going to go anywhere,” said Powney, who tossed the suspect’s keys and belongings into a ditch before confronting him at the scene.
“I said, ‘Are you drunk, have you been drinking, what is this?’” he recalled before the suspect was arrested.
Kyle Nicholas Luca, 30, of Squamish, was charged in March with two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm, and one count each of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, failing to stop after an accident causing bodily harm, and dangerous driving.
According to Ontario’s Bancroft Community Family Health Team, the alleged victim, Dr. Carolyn Brown, was visiting Squamish and out for an evening walk with her family when she and her grandson, who was in a stroller, were “hit by a careless driver while using the crosswalk.”
As the suspect fled, Dr. Brown was left unconscious on the ground and suffered fractures in her sacrum and leg, and two areas of bleeding in her brain.
Dr. Brown underwent neurosurgery to remove a hematoma and relieve the pressure in her brain, stated the Bancroft Community Family Health Team in a social media update on May 14, 2024.
According to Quinte Health, Dr. Brown closed her family practice in Bancroft last fall after 38 years, a retirement that was accelerated due to injuries she sustained in the hit and run.
“By complete miracle, the baby didn’t suffer life-threatening injuries, but he didn’t escape the incident unscathed, with a bump on the head, bruising to his face and cuts on his tongue,” stated Dr. Brown’s employer in the May 2024 update.
“It was very scary,” said Powney. “That baby was dragged roughly six blocks at a high speed, wedged into a stroller.”
On June 26, Luca, who is out on bail, was allegedly pulled over by Squamish RCMP, who were conducting patrols near Britannia Beach.
He’s since been charged with impaired driving, driving with a blood alcohol level over 80, and two counts of breaching his release order.
“I just couldn’t believe that this person would be allowed another chance to be behind the wheel,” Powney told Global News.
Luca was arrested after the roadside screening traffic stop and released on bail following a court appearance in North Vancouver earlier this month.
He must abide by 18 conditions, including residing at a recovery house in White Rock, an overnight curfew, electronic monitoring, staying away from alcohol and illegal drugs, and not occupying the driver’s seat of any vehicle.
Global News visited Luca at his recovery home on Tuesday. When asked how he was doing, Luca replied ‘good’ but declined to comment further on the charges he is facing.
Powney said he was in utter disbelief after learning of the new allegations against Luca, adding there is always a “rock bottom” for people struggling with issues in life.
“I don’t know how almost killing a child isn’t the rock bottom for somebody to change their life around,” said Powney.
“It took a perfect set of circumstances for that baby to survive; it was remarkable. I can’t believe it.”