Mangat initially slowed down but then sped up and continued up Burnaby Mountain,” read the statement.
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Mangat, a car salesman at DriveCo Motors in Coquitlam at the time and the driver of the Jeep, had been arguing over text with a woman he was in a relationship with.Īt 11:56 a.m., he had texted he was going to get “f***ed up.” He was seen drinking a Nude Vodka Soda at work that morning, the court heard.Īround 1 p.m., he left the car lot in the Jeep, which belonged to DriveCo, to get lunch with a co-worker.Īt first, they headed to Lougheed Mall, then decided to try a new restaurant on Burnaby Mountain near Simon Fraser University.Īs he came to the end of the long curve at the base of Burnaby Mountain, Mangat entered the bike lane going between 71 and 85 kilometres per hour and hit Masala. “His death was instantaneous,” Harris said. when a Jeep Cherokee speeding up Burnaby Mountain entered the bike lane and hit him, according to an agreed statement of facts presented at an earlier sentencing hearing that Harris called “emotional.”Īn RCMP collision analyst determined Masala had been “ladled onto the hood of the Jeep” and thrown about 43 metres after hitting the windshield, the statement said. Masala, a 53-year-old engineer and father of two young children, had been cycling beside Gaglardi Way just after 1:20 p.m.
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Wife Michelle Masala told the court she feared there would be no one to show her daughter how to make sure she is treated correctly, no one who can “teach her son to be a Black man in today’s world.” “His death has left the community mourning over and over and over again,” the court heard. In a letter from the chief of Masala’s home village, Masala’s death was described as leaving the community “helpless, hopeless and stranded.” He had helped build a school and medical clinic there. Harris said the Zambian-born Masala was a pillar of the local community and in his native country. “These failed to deter him,” the judge said. He had a roadside prohibition in 2016 and was found to have a high blood alcohol level in 2018 when he struck a lamppost, Harris said. This wasn't the first time Mangat encountered police while allegedly driving drunk. “There is nothing this court can do to ease the grief of the family, friends and community by the loss of Mr. Harris called the situation a “cold, calculated disregard for the life of another human.” Mangat had pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death and failing to stop at the scene of an accident. Mangat had a blood-alcohol level more than double the legal limit and originally tried to pin the accident on a co-worker who had been in the vehicle with him, Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Reginald Harris said at sentencing Feb. Sumeet Mangat hit Charles Masala on Burnaby Mountain on June 29, 2019. A man who killed a Burnaby cyclist while driving drunk - who fled the scene and then tried to blame an innocent person - will spend the next 30 months in prison.