Sam Dooley told a New Westminster court how he saw his longtime friend Silas O’Brien get run down by a white pickup truck on a Langley road three years ago, and described his unsuccessful efforts to keep him alive.
The trial of Brent Parent began yesterday in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster. Parent pleaded not guilty to five charges, including dangerous driving causing death and failing to remain at the scene of a crash.
Dooley testified that he, O’Brien and their friend Luke Stephens were driving in Dooley’s Chevrolet Silverado at about 2 a.m. on March 13, 2008, on their way to Seattle to catch a flight for a Hawaiian vacation.
He said he noticed a large white Ford pickup truck slowing down ahead of them before it suddenly slammed to a halt. When Dooley drove into the empty oncoming lane to pass the pickup, he claimed the Ford pushed his truck off the road and into a ditch.
The three men, who were uninjured, climbed onto the road on 16th Avenue and saw the same Ford pickup coming back toward them. “I was waving my hands and trying to get the vehicle to stop,” Dooley said.
He jumped out of the way, turned his head and saw O’Brien get hit and go under the wheel.
More than a dozen of O’Brien’s family and friends attended the first day of the trial. Many were emotional as Dooley told of watching the 21-year-old get hit and die.
Crown counsel will call several witnesses over the week, including Parent’s former girlfriend and his brother, who was allegedly in the truck with him during the incident.
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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