A Langley man has been sentenced to just over 15 months in prison for drug trafficking and a hit-and-run crash that knocked an ambulance into a ditch.
On Nov. 23 in New Westminster Supreme Court, Justice Barbara J. Norell ruled that Parmvir Paul Singh Sunner will be sentenced to 14 months for four charges of possession of a controlled substance, and another 45 days for failing to remain at the scene of an accident.
The crash that put Sunner in police custody took place at 1 a.m. on Nov. 9, 2020, when he was driving south on 216th Street near 40th Avenue.
There was an emergency incident already at the intersection, and behind Sunner a B.C. Ambulance SUV was heading for the scene, moving fast, with its lights and sirens on.
Sunner, then 21 years old, pulled his Infiniti over to the side of the road and stopped.
But as the ambulance approached, Sunner suddenly pulled off the edge of the road and tried to make a U-turn. The SUV slammed into the driver’s side of the Infiniti.
The SUV then crashed into the ditch, its driver suffering non-life-threatening injuries.
When the SUV driver managed to get out of his vehicle, Sunner was gone. He’d left the Infiniti’s door open and had run for it.
Langley RCMP called in a tracking dog, and Sunner was found hiding under a tree on a nearby property.
Inside the crashed Infiniti, police found 24 baggies of fentanyl, three of cocaine, five of methamphetamine, and 12 of mixed meth and cocaine.
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Police said the drugs were worth about $1,620, and the other circumstances, including the $505 in cash on Sunner, along with two cellphones and altered license plates on the Infiniti, were consistent with a dial-a-dope operation.
Although the defense asked for a conditional sentence order with 18 months of house arrest, but Justice Norell ruled that with a fentanyl trafficking offense, some jail time was needed.
“The gravity of the trafficking‑related offences and in particular the offence involving fentanyl is high,” she wrote in her ruling. “The offences took place when the dangers of illicit drug use and fentanyl were well known.”
She noted that there were mitigating factors, including attempts Sunner has made towards rehabilitation over the last few years, including showing remorse, holding a job and avoiding further criminal activity.
She ruled that for the drug trafficking offenses, he should serve 14 months in prison, and for leaving the scene of the crash, an additional 45 days after that, followed by probation.
Sunner was also banned from possession a gun, crossbow, ammunition, or explosives for 10 years.
