It could have been worse. Much worse.
As emergency personnel were on scene dealing with a multi-vehicle collision about 17 kilometres east of Jasper on April 23, police received a call for an impaired driver heading towards the collision scene.
According to police, the call came in around 9:30 p.m., about three-and-a-half hours after a collision near Snaring Bridge shut down Highway 16 that sent several people to hospital in Jasper and Hinton.
After receiving the call, police located the suspect vehicle on Highway 16 near the townsite and initiated a traffic stop, but the vehicle sped away and fled the scene.
A few minutes later, RCMP officers located the same vehicle near the collision scene. Police blocked the suspect vehicle and conducted a high-risk vehicle stop. All three male occupants surrendered and were taken into custody without further incident.
RCMP Const. Patrick Vallee confirmed there were no fatalities related to the multi-vehicle collision, however at least one man was taken to hospital in critical condition.
The highway reopened during the early morning hours of April 24. No further details about the collision were released because it is under investigation.
It鈥檚 the second serious collision to happen along that stretch of road this year.
In March, a 33-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter were killed in a crash approximately 15 km east of Jasper.
An eight-year-old boy and a 56-year-old woman were also injured in the collision, but suffered minor, non-life threatening injuries.
The driver of the truck, a 51-year-old man from Calgary was transported to hospital in serious condition.
As a result of the impaired driving investigation on April 23, Jared Miles Schoendorfer, 23, was charged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle while disqualified, dangerous driving and obstructing a police officer.
Landyn Darren Pomeranz, 23, was also charged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle.
Billy Joseph Sanderson, 23, as well as the other two men were charged for possession of a controlled substance.
All three are set to appear in Jasper Provincial Court on June 8.
None of the allegations or charges have been proven in court.
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
