Vancouver Island impaired driver gets 6 years in jail for fatal hit and run in Parksville

A Vancouver Island man who pleaded guilty to driving while impaired and killing one person in a hit-and-run collision has been sentenced.

In February, Ryan John Grob, 36, pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death for fatally striking 32-year-old Spencer Alexander Moore with his truck on a Parksville street in Aug. 2019 and driving away .

On Friday, in Nanaimo provincial court, Grob received a six-year jail sentence followed by an eight-year driving prohibition.

In the sentencing, Justice Karen Whonnock detailed the circumstances of the hit-and-run death of Moore and had harsh words about Grob's efforts to cover up his responsibility for the crime.

Between Aug. 23 and 24, 2019, Grob drank at two Parksville pubs and was seen using cocaine before driving away from the Rod and Gun pub around 2:30 a.m. on the 24th. He admitted he was intoxicated.

He struck Moore with his truck minutes later on nearby Hirst Avenue. He admitted driving 84 to 99 kilometres per hour when the collision occurred. The posted speed limit was 50 kilometres per hour.

Whonnock noted Grob later reported his truck stolen and enlisted two friends to make false statements to police to cover up his role in Moore's death.

"Mr. Grob's multiple actions to deceive police were reprehensible," Whonnock wrote.

"These actions are very troubling to me and I have not seen a similar case with such aggravated elements that matches the deceitful acts of concealment of Mr. Grob."

Whonnock noted other aggravating factors including Grob's previous driving infractions and his further driving offences committed after the fatal collision.

She credited him, however, for eventually pleading guilty, apologizing and showing "sincere and genuine" remorse and for engaging with counselling programs for his drug and alcohol problems.

Whonnock noted that Moore was a "strong and big hearted man with a lot of opportunity ahead of him" and his family told of "unbearable grief and tragedy."

She highlighted a statement from Spencer's brother, Brandon Moore: "There is now a hole in my heart that has been replaced with nothing but a huge void. He had his life and future stolen from him in a split second.

"Not one day has passed without me thinking of him, what feels like hundreds of times a day."

Grob's lawyer, Jeffrey Arndt, said he doesn't believe his client will appeal the jail sentence but may appeal the length of the driving prohibition.

"It's a very sad situation for everybody," Arndt said Tuesday, noting that Moore and Grob's families were "destroyed by the foolish behaviour of a young man who got behind the wheel while he was intoxicated."

He added Grob wishes to engage in restorative justice processes if possible and if the Moore family is willing.

Moore's cousin, Crystal Burdes, speaking on the phone from her home in Watson Lake, Yukon, said the family was hoping for a stiffer sentence for Grob.

"It's hard to see any punishment as being thoroughly sufficient," Burdes said.

"To me, when I see six years and ... eight before he gets his license back, to me, it doesn't seem like enough because he still has the opportunities for this to happen again. And that's terrifying."

Burdes described Spencer Moore as a close cousin and a person who was "loving, caring and giving."

"His life in general is a good memory. It's just hard to see it end so soon," she said.