A B.C. man who drove a car into Burrard Inlet as part of a livestreamed social media stunt in 2024 has been charged in connection with an alleged high-speed crash in New Westminster earlier this year.
Jawad Mazen Fawwaz, 21, is accused of dangerous driving in the March 30 collision at 6th Avenue and McBride Boulevard, which police said caused significant damage to two vehicles.
Police allege a black Mercedes SUV with several occupants, was travelling at a high rate of speed before it flipped into some hedges and landed on its roof.
The lone occupant of a second vehicle did not appear to have significant injuries, police said.
“With the amount of damage these vehicles sustained, it’s a miracle no one was seriously hurt,” stated Sgt. Jacquelyn Mula in an April 2 news release.
At the time of the collision, the New Westminster Police Department said it believes Fawwaz was the driver of the black Mercedes SUV.
In an unrelated incident on March 4, 2024, Fawwaz drove a vehicle into the waters off Rocky Point Park in Port Moody, jumping out of the car before it submerged.
Get daily National news
The ensuing emergency response forced a 16-hour closure of the boat launch and left the City of Port Moody with a $3,000 cleanup bill.
Fawwaz later pleaded guilty to one count of mischief under $5,000 and was given a conditional discharge and 12 months of probation in November 2024.
Court heard that at the time of the incident, Fawwaz told police his brakes had failed, but that police later discovered he had done it deliberately in response to a livestreamer’s offer of U.S. $10,000.
- More details emerge about Vancouver stranger assault suspect
- Video captures distraction theft from an 88-year-old woman in East Vancouver
- Ontario woman pleads guilty to defrauding Taylor Swift fans out of $265K in ticket scam
- Driver accused of deliberately hitting Muslim woman due to race: Edmonton police
In acceding to a joint sentencing submission from Crown and defence for a conditional discharge, which sees an accused avoid a conviction if they successfully complete all court-ordered probation conditions, Provincial Court Judge Anja Brown told Fawwaz: “You’re getting a lucky break.”
Fawwaz’s next court appearance on the dangerous driving charge is July 8 in New Westminster.
Comments
Comments closed.
Due to the sensitive and/or legal subject matter of some of the content on globalnews.ca, we reserve the ability to disable comments from time to time.
Please see our Commenting Policy for more.