Officer pleads not guilty of dangerous driving
Police were doing surveillance when fatal accident occurred
An Edmonton police officer pleaded not guilty Monday to dangerous driving causing death in relation to a crash that killed an 84-year-old woman.
Anne Cecilia Walden, 84, was attempting to turn left onto 76th Avenue from 75th Street in her Volkswagen Jetta on March 8, 2012, when Const. Chris Luimes’ unmarked police car crashed into her vehicle. Walden died at the scene.
Luimes was on duty but not in uniform, conducting surveillance for a criminal investigation. He sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Edmonton police were investigating a person they suspected was selling stolen gold. Const. Jana Marshall told court she asked the department’s prolific offenders suppression team (POST) to help conduct “lifestyle surveillance” of the suspect.
Luimes, a six-year veteran of the force at the time, was one of the POST officers recruited to help and was driving a Nissan Altima. The goal of the surveillance was to gather intelligence and observe the suspect’s habits and interactions.
Crown prosecutor Jonathan Hak said Luimes was trying to catch up to the suspect and was travelling nearly 120 kilometres per hour when the collision occurred.
Marshall said she was one of several officers following the suspect and drove by the intersection of 75th Street and 76th Avenue, which was blocked because of the collision. She was told after she passed the scene that Luimes was involved in the crash.
Kyle Daub was in the passenger seat of an Epcor van driving northbound on 75th Street when he said he saw Luimes drive past at a speed that “shocked” him.
“He flew by us as if we were standing still,” Daub testified Monday.
Daub said the driver of the Volkswagen Jetta “miscalculated” when she advanced to turn left and was then hit by the “accelerating” Nissan Altima.
Ken Noonan was driving the Epcor van at the time and said the first thing he thought when he saw Walden’s vehicle about to turn was “don’t go.”
“I didn’t think she’d make it,” he testified.
Sgt. Cameron Dewar, POST’s commanding officer in 2012, testified in court that police can break the rules of the road during a surveillance when “it’s reasonable and safe.”
Luimes was charged after an 18-month investigation by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The trial continues Tuesday.
“He flew by us as if we were standing still.”
KYLE DAUB