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U.S. punk band claims involvement in ‘dragging’ of Burnaby woman

Minneapolis punk band Off With Their Heads says a member of the group was involved in a crash that left a Burnaby woman with multiple life-threatening injuries. Desiree Evancio, 24, was struck by a driver in Vancouver on Oct.
desiree evancio
A GoFundMe page has been started that has already raise money to help Burnaby resident Desiree Evancio. Screenshot

Minneapolis punk band Off With Their Heads says a member of the group was involved in a crash that left a Burnaby woman with multiple life-threatening injuries.

Desiree Evancio, 24, was struck by a driver in Vancouver on Oct. 12 and dragged underneath the vehicle for several blocks around 12:30 a.m. in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Vancouver Police Department Sgt. Steve Addison said Evancio was walking near East Hastings and Jackson Street when she was hit. He said the driver was not aware of the collision and drove several blocks to East Hastings and Columbia Street before realizing what had happened.On Wednesday, Oct. 16, a member of Off With Their Heads posted on Facebook about the accident. The band was playing a show in Vancouver on Oct. 11 at SBC Restaurant, which is located in the Downtown Eastside.

Off With Their Heads’ frontman Ryan Young wrote that the band was cancelling the remaining dates of their North American tour. He added that the group is waiting for more information to come to light but that they doesn’t feel comfortable playing live shows until that happens.

“Due to the sensitive nature of an accident a band member was involved with, I can’t elaborate any more than that,” he writes.

Young says that refunds for the cancelled shows will be available for fans at the point of purchase.

GoFundMe page has been started that has already raised $116,680 out of a goal of $1 million to help Evancio, who has already undergone multiple surgeries and had facial reconstruction surgery on Wednesday.

“Bone and tissue needs to be cut and taken from her leg and formed in replace of her cheek bone,” reads the fundraising page. “Her jaw, currently broken in three places will have a plate inserted to realign it. The list will go on.”

Vancouver Police told Vancouver Is Awesome in an email that this incident is still under investigation and no charges have been laid.

“We are going to investigate and find out what his insurance if any covers but the likelyhood is poor that we will receive enough endurance money to cover the many years of rehabilitation Desiree will need,” reads a statement on the fundraising page. “On top of that, any reconstructive work she may want or need down the road including a prosthetic eye she may want. All of this is far away from now. But we have started something for her and I am forever grateful. She will be in the hospital for another 6 months to a year. This depends on how every single surgery goes and how she heals. Everything will take time.”

With files from Elisia Seeber. 

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