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Your source for local news, sports, weather and entertainment. www.thenownews.com
Police appeal to witnesses of fatal crash Simone Blais sblais@thenownews.com
Submitted photo
Key witnesses to the crash that killed Lorraine Cruz and Charlene Reaveley were in a van like this, police say.
They know it’s been traumatic, but they need you to come forward anyway. That is the message police are sending out to those who may have seen the double fatality in Coquitlam play out before them, as investigators fear the crash may have been so “horrific,” it’s preventing witnesses from providing statements. On Tuesday, RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen told a throng of media at the roadside memorial at Lougheed Highway and Pitt River Road that investigators are seeking statements from three different groups of people, including some who may have
post-traumatic stress and “do not want to relive what they potentially may have seen.” “This type of investigation, the easy part is identifying who we feel might be responsible for this particular incident,” Thiessen said. “The hard part comes in gathering the appropriate evidence to support our allegations and support the charges.” The first key witnesses, he said, are the driver and occupants of a white 2008 Chevrolet Uplander minivan that stopped at the scene after the initial crash, when 26-year-old Lorraine Cruz and her boyfriend got out of the Nissan Pathfinder they had crashed. “The occupants of this van made contact with the two ladies that were
subsequently and tragically killed after the second crash,” Thiessen said. “They determined there wasn’t a need for them to remain, and they left the scene. It was after they left the scene that the second crash occurred.” The second crash happened after 30year-old Charlene Reaveley and her husband, Dan, stopped to help. Police allege the second crash was a hit and run. Several vehicles were stopped on Lougheed Highway waiting to turn left onto Pitt River Road, Thiessen added, and police need to speak to those people — no matter how difficult it may be. “We feel it’s possible that they may have witnessed a horrific event,” said CONTINUED ON PAGE 4, see WITNESSES.
Will election of Christy Clark benefit Tri-Cities? John Kurucz jkurucz@thenownews.com Each of them acknowledged the “huge challenges” that lie ahead, yet all three also expressed a home-turf type of optimism. The NOW spoke to all three Tri-Cities mayors in light of Christy Clark’s Liberal leadership win and, in turn, her new standing as B.C.’s premier-designate. Easily the most outspoken local critic of the province in recent years — particularly over issues like the Evergreen Line and Murray Clarke Connector — Port Moody Mayor Joe Trasolini sees in Clark an opportunity to start anew with respect to transit issues. “I think that that is a huge challenge for her,” Trasolini told The NOW Tuesday. “But I am encouraged because Christy Clark knows this area. She knows about the issues around sustainable funding for TransLink. She knows the immediate need to help TransLink bridge that gap and come up with money for the
Evergreen Line.” Port Moody-Westwood MLA from 1996 to 2005, Clark secured the province’s top job Saturday by garnering 52 per cent of votes on the third ballot. Although she remains without a seat in the provincial legislature, Clark will likely be sworn in as premier at some point this month. In looking ahead to that prospect, Trasolini said the former Gordon Campbell-led version of the party disenfranchised not only his council, but other governments and citizens across the province by stifling input from virtually anyone outside of party ranks. Part of Clark’s platform has been a promise to reverse that trend, a move Trasolini hopes will, in fact, play out. “My relationship with the provincial government has been an issue because of the very thing that everybody is now recognizing — that the provincial government had stopped listening, stopped being open in their governance. They were CONT. ON PAGE 8, see CLARK.
Province photo by Les Bazso
Former Tri-Cities MLA Christy Clark waves to the crowd after being named the new leader of the BC Liberal Party at the Vancouver Convention Centre on Saturday.
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