Sentencing adjourned for motorcyclist involved in collision

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on September 17, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A Lethbridge man who crashed into a pickup truck with his motorcycle with enough force to knock the truck onto its side, has pleaded guilty to several charges, including impaired driving.

Roy Garnet Scarrow also pleaded guilty Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court to charges of failing to stop at a stop sign and driving while unauthorized. Scarrow was not sentenced, however, but returned to court Friday where the matter was adjourned to Sept. 22 to schedule a sentencing hearing, possibly in December. In the meantime, a pre-sentence report will be prepared to provide the court with Scarrow’s personal circumstances and background to help determine a fit sentence, which is expected to include a term of custody.

Scarrow was speeding on his “large and heavy” Harley Davidson motorcycle at about 7 p.m. on Sept. 30 of last year when he ran a stop sign at the corner of 13 Avenue and 18 Street North. Scarrow was northbound on 18 Street when he blew through the stop sign and crashed into a truck that was eastbound on 13 Avenue.

“There was no evidence of any braking really, at all,” Crown Prosecutor Clayton Giles said.

“He struck the rear of the Nissan pickup truck with sufficient force that the pickup truck spun and rolled onto its side.”

The female driver of the truck was “shook up” but not injured, while Scarrow, who was drunk at the time, had several teeth knocked out, suffered a number of facial injuries, and was airlifted to Calgary.

“One of his feet was, in fact, located 180 degrees from its normal position,” Giles said.

Scarrow was also unauthorized to drive at the time, and court was told he never applied to have his licence reinstated after he was prohibited from driving following previous convictions for driving with a blood-alcohol concentration over the legal limit. Giles pointed out Scarrow will, because of those suspensions back in 2008 to 2015, have to take a course to get his licence back.

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