Sparks flew out from behind a Cadillac Eldorado travelling north on the Trans-Canada highway into Duncan Saturday night around 10 p.m. The vehicle’s front driver’s side wheel was missing.
An alleged drunk driver was behind the wheel of the vehicle, according to police.
The incident was caught on a four-minute long video by a passenger of a car full of Navy sailors travelling in the opposite direction at the time.
Trevor Shewaga said he and fellow sailors Stuart Carmichael and Steve Kryskow were southbound just a few minutes south of Duncan when they saw the Cadillac. They’d been visiting a friend to watch football and were on their way home.
“We were pretty quick to realize that he had no tire,” Shewaga said. “So I pulled up my phone and thought I’d better record this just in case something happens.”
Carmichael, who was driving the sailors’ vehicle, found a safe place to turn around and the group began to follow the Cadillac.
“Its turn signal was activated but luckily he wasn’t swerving,” Shewaga noted. The group called police to report what they were witnessing.
“Since he didn’t pull over and he had chances to pull over, we figured something was up,” Shewaga said.
North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP had in fact received several calls to report the dangerous situation.
Eventuallty, the Cadillac pulled into the Ramada parking lot and so did Carmichael. His other passenger, Kryskow, kept an eye on the Cadillac’s driver while Shewaga stood by ready to fight a fire should the sparks ignite the Cadillac until the RCMP arrived a few minutes later.
BC RCMP spokesman Sgt. Chris Manseau said when police arrived the driver was out of his vehicle and looking at the missing wheel.
“The driver of the 2002 Cadillac Eldorado sedan was spoken to and through investigation it was determined that they had consumed alcohol,” Manseau said. “Through the investigation it was confirmed that the driver had consumed alcohol to a point where their ability to drive was affected, and their vehicle was towed, and they were given a seven day prohibition from driving.”
Manseau said the driver admitted to driving from Victoria and it is believed that a collision happened somewhere between there and Duncan resulting in the loss of the tire.
“Fortunately there were no reports of anyone injured, and the cause of the lost wheel (and where it occurred) is still under investigation,” Manseau said.
The North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP are requesting anyone with information, or who may have come across a wheel (or damages consistent with a crash) to contact the RCMP at 250-748-5522.
