Victoria police plan to recommend charges of impaired driving and fleeing the scene of an accident against a Saanich man whose car flipped, trapping four passengers, after a collision with a cab.
Two men remain in hospital with serious injuries.
Just before 10:30 p.m. Friday, a brown Toyota Corolla going north on Linden Avenue failed to stop at a stop sign at Fairfield Road, said Victoria police.
A Blue Bird cab travelling east broadsided the Corolla, rolling it onto its right side against a tree. The taxi driver was unable to avoid the collision, police said.
Four passengers — two of whom were unconscious — were trapped inside the vehicle.
The taxi’s passengers rolled the Corolla back onto the ground and administered first aid until police, fire and ambulance crews arrived at the scene. Mechanical equipment had to be used to free the passengers.
Witnesses said the driver of the Corolla fled the scene.
“It’s our understanding that when he fled from the vehicle, he got into another Blue Bird cab and took the cab to his house,” said Victoria police spokesman Bowen Osoko.
Victoria and Saanich police, including a K-9 unit, searched for the driver before police were tipped off to his home address.
“There was actually a Saanich officer waiting for him when he got out of the cab,” Osoko said.
All four passengers — two men and two women — were taken to hospital with injuries.
“The two girls have been released but they’re pretty shaken up,” Osoko said.
Early evidence suggests the driver and passengers, all in their early 20s, were “brief acquaintances,” who left a location where alcohol was consumed, police said.
A 21-year-old Saanich man was arrested and taken into Victoria police custody. He was later released on a promise to appear in court.
During the police search for the driver, the K-9 unit was involved in an unrelated encounter in which a youth was injured. The boy was taken to hospital and later released.
Victoria police said the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner was notified and will conduct an external review. Victoria police said they could not comment on the K-9 incident, out of respect for the investigation.
