A Kamloops police officer has been awarded more than $700,000 by a B.C. Supreme Court judge as a result of injuries sustained in a crash seven years ago.
Gary Senner, who retired from his job as an RCMP sergeant last year, suffered headaches and fatigue following the on-duty collision while driving an RCMP surveillance van on Feb. 15, 2011. He also suffered a mild traumatic brain injury after the crash sent his covert police vehicle into a Mount Paul Way ditch.
Senner, 61, headed up the Kamloops RCMP detachment’s drug unit in 2008 when it dismantled the leadership of the local cell of the Independent Soldiers gang. He also worked regularly as a pool undercover operator in investigations across Canada — a role in which he was described by superiors as “a top performer,” court heard.
On the day of the accident, Senner was driving an undercover RCMP Chevrolet Venture minivan from his Heffley Creek home to an undisclosed drop location in Kamloops. He was speeding on Mount Paul Way when he collided with another vehicle at Athabasca Street.
The van rolled and Senner was discovered unconscious in the driver’s seat.
The vehicle Senner struck, described in court as a tractor, was pulling onto Mount Paul Way from Athabasca Street. Experts determined Senner’s van was travelling between 65 km/h and 79 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. A report entered in court said the collision could have been avoided if the van was travelling at the legal speed limit.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Hope Hyslop ruled Senner would have been promoted to staff sergeant and would still be working as a Mountie if not for the collision.
Hyslop found Senner to be 10 per cent at fault for the collision.
She awarded him nearly $500,000 for income he would have received as a staff sergeant working until age 65, plus almost $150,000 for pain and suffering, among other costs, for a total of $708,000.
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