B.C. Coroner's Inquest into Fatal Highway 1 Police Chase Accident

Article content A coroner’s inquest will be held almost five years after a vehicle speeding in the wrong direction on Highway 1 while being chased by police crashed into another vehicle killing three people. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Vancouver Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Vancouver Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Sign In or Create an Account Email Address or Article content On Thursday, the B.C. Coroners Service reported the inquest into the deaths of Gabriel Johnson Choi, 35, Hasan Khaled Ayyad, 29, and Allison Dawn Gilchrist, 43, had been scheduled for Dec. 8 to Dec. 19, 2025 in Burnaby. Article content We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, or tap here to see other videos from our team. B.C. coroner's inquest called into triple-fatal accident following Highway 1 police chase Back to video We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, or tap here to see other videos from our team. Article content Article content According to the Independent Investigations Office of B.C., at 4 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2020, the RCMP’s Upper Fraser Valley detachment received a report about a vehicle travelling in the wrong direction on Highway 1 near Laidlaw, which is half way between Chilliwack and Hope. Article content “The RCMP reports that a Chilliwack officer located a vehicle travelling westbound at excessive speed in the eastbound lanes near Annis Road. The vehicle collided head-on with an eastbound vehicle and caught fire. Officers’ attempts to extinguish the fire were unsuccessful,” the investigations office reported at the time. Article content “Officers extracted one person from the eastbound vehicle. The person was transported to hospital with serious injuries. Officers were unable to remove the driver and a passenger from the (westbound) suspect vehicle, and both were pronounced dead at the scene.” Article content Article content The injured person, Choi, died the following day. Choi was a federal corrections officer who was heading to work when the accident occurred. Article content Read More Article content The IIO is called any time a person is killed or seriously injured during an interaction involving police. Article content A report was released by the IIO in February 2022 that cleared the officer who was pursuing the suspect vehicle at high speed in the wrong lane. Article content “In the end, (the officer) chose to risk his own safety in order to give the only warning that could be given to members of the public travelling east that morning. While in the end this was unsuccessful, likely due to where the collision occurred, in these tragic and very difficult circumstances, it cannot be said that (the officer’s) choice was the wrong one,” wrote former IIO chief civilian director Ronald J. MacDonald. Article content Following the December inquest, the chief coroner may make recommendations aimed at preventing a similar incident from occurring again. The coroner cannot make any ruling around blameworthiness. Article content dcarrigg@postmedia.com