VICTORIA -- A Saanich Police spokesman says the force is disappointed about the acquittal of a Victoria-area man accused of weaving his motorcycle at race track speeds through Vancouver Island traffic.
But Sgt. Steve Eassie says the department will use the case as a training tool for future investigations, noting many things can be learned from it.
A provincial court judge in Victoria has acquitted 26-year-old Randy Scott of dangerous driving in a case where a motorcycle rider wearing a helmet-mounted camera recorded video of a wild ride through highway traffic north of Victoria in April of 2012, as the bike's speedometer nudges 300-kilometres per hour.
An investigation began after the video was posted to YouTube and went viral, quickly tallying 1.7-million hits
Judge Robert Higinbotham ruled that although officers were able to identify the motorcycle, the Crown could not identify the driver beyond a reasonable doubt, and the judge criticized police, saying it is frustrating that useful investigative approaches were not considered important.
Despite the acquittal, Scott and his mother, who was the registered owner of the 2006 Yamaha R-1, will not get the motorcycle back because Eassie says police only had to prove the bike was used illegally in order to seize it and sell it through the civil forfeiture process.
