Photo upsets parents of cyclist killed in crash
‘It just flies in your face,’ father says of image showing driver in jumpsuit
Disturbing and disgusting is what Tom and Lianne Dean are calling a recent photo of the man who allegedly drove into their son in a fatal 2016 crash.
Bradley Dean was cycling with five friends on a dry, Sunday morning in Richmond in early November when a car plowed into the group, killing him and injuring two others.
Just a week-and-a-half before the first anniversary of Dean’s death and days shy of being charged in connection with the crash, Michael Fan posted the photo in question to his Instagram account.
In the photo, Fan and three other men are dressed in orange, prisonstyle jumpsuits and sport-folded bandanas on their foreheads. They are splattered with red liquid that appears intended to resemble blood.
On one side of Fan’s face is what appears to be a fake tattoo. On the other is a single teardrop, seemingly fake as well. Each of the other three men in the photo also have teardrops on their faces.
Tattooed teardrops can mean different things. It can represent a prison sentence or the death of a friend, for example. But another common interpretation of a teardrop tattoo is that its wearer has murdered somebody.
When reached by telephone early Wednesday, Fan would not answer questions about Dean or the photo.
“Sorry, I’m going to decline,” Fan said, later adding: “I’m not going to answer any.”
Asked whether the teardrop in the photo was intended to represent Dean, Fan remained silent for several seconds, then disconnected the call.
Shortly after the conversation, the Instagram account to which the photo had been posted was changed from public to private. It is unclear whether the photo itself was removed from the account.
Fan did not respond to followup questions sent to his work email address. A business card on another of Fan’s Instagram accounts lists him as a real estate agent at Sutton Centre Realty in Burnaby. A call to the company confirmed Fan was employed there.
That other social media account was also changed from public to private after Fan was reached by Postmedia.
Kevin Filkow, Fan’s lawyer, said his understanding was that the members of the group photo were dressed in Halloween costumes. No specific or general malicious intent was meant by it, he said.
Fan is scheduled to appear in Richmond provincial court on May 15, where he faces one charge in relation to the accident: Driving a motor vehicle without due care and attention.
Dean’s parents have characterized the charge as an insulting “slap on the wrist” and have pressed for criminal charges. In a letter they sent to Crown counsel late last year, the Deans said the Crown “has let down our family, our community, Bradley Dean our son, and all British Columbians” by not pursuing a greater charge.
Dean’s mother explained how she reacted when she first saw the photo.
“I felt incredibly shaken by it,” Lianne Dean said.
When asked if they felt any differently knowing that the photo was taken in the context of Halloween, the Deans said it almost made it worse.
Tom Dean said he already believed the Crown had laid the wrong charge in relation to the case. Then he saw the photo.
“It just flies in your face,” he said.
I felt incredibly shaken by (the photo posted to Instagram).