A 51-year-old Burnaby man has been handed a $1,000 fine and a one-year driving ban for some “horrendously dangerous” drunk driving a year ago.
Lucian Lucescu was in Vancouver provincial court Thursday to plead guilty to one count of impaired driving.
The charge relates to incidents on Feb. 5, 2022.
At about 10 p.m. that day, Burnaby RCMP got a report of a “possibly impaired driver” on Lougheed Highway and Gaglardi Way, according to agreed facts presented in court by Crown prosecutor Ariel Bultz.
A driver in a Honda SUV was described as “driving at a high rate of speed” “swerving all over the road” “straddling both lanes” “driving erratically” “speeding and slowing down at different points” and “driving on the shoulder of the road,” according to Bultz.
He was eventually observed entering the underground parking lot of a Lougheed apartment building.
When police responded to the parking garage, they found Lucescu asleep in the vehicle.
He initially told police he hadn’t been driving but had come down to his vehicle to drink.
Breath samples resulted in “high readings,” according to Bultz.
'Regretful decision'
Lucescu’s lawyer said his client had planned to stay with a friend that night, but they’d gotten into an argument, so Lucescu made the “regretful decision” to drive home.
B.C. provincial court Judge Nancy Adams agreed to a joint sentencing submission in the case, handing Lucescu a $1,000 fine and a one-year driving prohibition.
She described his driving on Feb. 5, 2022 as “horrendously dangerous.”
In handing down her sentence, Adams noted the amount of alcohol Lucescu had consumed, his dangerous driving, his lie to police and the fact he already had two 90-day driving bans on his record for impaired driving.
But she also pointed out Lucescu didn’t have a criminal record, had entered a “very early” guilty plea and had taken steps to work on his rehabilitation.
One charge of driving with a blood alcohol level over 0.08 per cent was stayed after the hearing.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
Email cnaylor@burnabynow.com
