March 29, 2024

Man denies charges in hit-and-run

Brent Parent, the driver of the truck that allegedly struck down and killed 21-year-old Silas O’Brien in 2008, told the court yesterday he did not know someone had been killed until the next day.

Parent, who pleaded not guilty to five charges including criminal negligence and dangerous driving causing death and took the stand yesterday in his own defence, admitted he tapped on his brakes unexpectedly to slow down the truck behind him, describing his move as “stupid and childish.”

When the other truck — driven by Sam Dooley with passengers Luke Stephen and O’Brien — tried to pass, Parent testified he accelerated and saw the vehicle go into the ditch on 16th Avenue near 264th Street.

He claimed he returned to the scene of the incident to check if everyone was OK.

“I was a little bit angry … mostly (at) myself because all this could’ve been avoided if I just had pulled over in the first place and just let them drive past,” Parent testified.

When he approached the crash scene, Parent claimed the people on the road attacked his vehicle and he heard a bang before driving off.

“I thought they threw something or kicked my truck,” he testified.

He began to cry as he testified about finding out from his estranged wife the next morning that a man had been run over and killed by a truck on 16th Avenue. But when Crown prosecutor Donna Ballyk asked him if that something was Silas O’Brien, Parent said, “it may have been, I do not know.”

Vancouver City Coun. Geoff Meggs, whose wife is O’Brien’s aunt, said Silas was just getting started in life and would’ve been very good with business.

“(The family) suffered a terrible loss but they’re very strong,” Meggs said outside court. “The whole extended family’s been bound together by a very deep Christian faith that’s carried them through this.”

Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver

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