Carberry man sentenced for fleeing scene of crash

A Carberry man who fled the scene after a collision that left an 80-year-old woman with broken ribs was sentenced to six months of house arrest and fined $1,000.

Crown attorney Yaso Mathu read the facts of the case in Brandon provincial court on Friday.

On Dec. 16, 2023, Carter Duncan, who was 19 at the time, called the Brandon Police Service to report that his vehicle had been stolen.

Officers started an investigation and realized there was a vehicle that matched Duncan’s description in the City Centre Vendor parking lot.

Mathu said the police saw the vehicle was both pushed in and had smashed windows on the driver’s side. The airbags were deployed and there were empty beer cans inside along with an open case of beer.

A suspect driving the vehicle, which Mathu said Duncan later admitted was himself, was travelling the wrong way on 15th Street and entered Rosser Avenue northbound. An oncoming vehicle was travelling eastbound and hit the side of Duncan’s vehicle.

The other vehicle came to a stop after hitting a tree.

Duncan fled the scene without checking on the other vehicle.

The accident sent the driver of the other car, an 80-year-old woman, to the hospital for broken ribs. She needed no long-term care.

“We were very lucky that she wasn’t more injured,” Mathu said.

Police called Duncan’s mother, who said she had no idea about a stolen vehicle. She talked to her son and ultimately encouraged him to come forward to the police.

Mathu said Duncan gave a full confession to police and pleaded guilty to both careless driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident that resulted in bodily harm.

Duncan claimed he didn’t know 15th Street was a one-way street. Duncan admitted he panicked and left the scene, and denied being under the influence of alcohol at the time, Mathu said.

“I know there is some evidence of that in the vehicle, but … there is no way to prove that he had alcohol in his body at the time of the incident.”

Wendy Stewart, an attorney with Legal Aid Manitoba who represented Duncan in court, said he made a poor decision and felt bad for leaving the scene. When he found out someone was injured, he said his guilt worsened.

“I think you have a very nice young man who made a bad mistake that he regrets and that he would go back and fix if he could,” she said.

On top of the fine and conditional sentence, Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta put in place a six-month driving prohibition.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com