Two years after a man carjacked a pregnant woman's pickup truck and crashed the vehicle with her inside, CTV News has obtained surveillance footage of the shocking crime.
The video was used in the trial for Edward Joseph Biwer, who was convicted this week on seven counts, including robbery, assault and a firearm offence.
Biwer told the court he was high on drugs and armed with a gun during the incident, which happened in Surrey two days before Christmas 2014. The defense strategy was based on Biwer’s testimony he was too impaired to willfully commit a crime, a claim Justice Don Gardner rejected.
Biwer tried unsuccessfully to steal another woman's car while pointing a gun at her before turning to the pregnant victim's truck, which was parked and running outside a Shoppers Drug Mart on Fraser Highway.
She was waiting in the passenger seat for her husband to pick up a prescription for her when the footage shows Biwer walking up to the driver's side, opening the door and jumping inside.
"My wife's hand is all bruised from her punching him in the face, fighting with him, fighting for control of the vehicle," Kerry, who asked not to be identified by his full name, told CTV News the day after the crime.
Surveillance video shows the passenger side door open as Biwer speeds away from the pharmacy, with Kerry’s wife still inside. The robber then smashed into half a dozen vehicles on the Fraser Highway and flipped the truck after she grabbed the steering wheel.
What happened next infuriated her husband.
"[Biwer] braced himself against my pregnant wife and used his feet to push against her stomach and push himself out of the vehicle," Kerry said.
“He had no concern for anyone other than himself."
His wife broke her hip in the crash, and badly bruised the hand she used to fight him, but their fetus was unharmed and the mother was released from hospital after days later.
After the collision, a couple in a red SUV stopped to help, and Biwer took the opportunity to steal their vehicle instead, even though their seven-week-old newborn was in the backseat.
Dashcam video shows the child's panicked father running after the vehicle, but Biwer managed to get away.
Fortunately, Mounties were able to locate the SUV and apprehend their suspect, and the newborn was unharmed. At the time, officials told CTV News every available on-duty officer in the city of Surrey joined in the search for the infant.
At the time of the carjackings, Biwer had been out of jail for less than two weeks after serving time for a string of robberies at fast food restaurants. He is scheduled to be sentenced in January.
