Man sentenced in hit-and-run crash that injured 2 B.C. police officers

Burnaby RCMP respond to a collision that left two officers seriously injured on March 4, 2019.

Mounties say a 35-year-old man has been sentenced to five years in prison for a hit-and-run crash that left two British Columbia police officers with life-altering injuries in 2019.

Jason Kirupakaran was convicted in January of two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and two counts of failing to stop after an accident causing bodily harm.

On Thursday, Kirupakaran was handed a four-year sentence for the criminal negligence charges plus an additional year for failing to remain at the scene of the accident.

The crash happened just before noon on March 4, 2019, when an RCMP officer and an Abbotsford police officer were on duty with the Lower Mainland Integrated Police Dog Service.

The officers were in a vehicle on the side of North Fraser Way in Burnaby when a stolen car hit their vehicle and fled the scene, the RCMP said shortly after the crash.

Both officers were taken to hospital and the suspect vehicle was located a short distance away.

Kirupakaran was charged in the collision in May 2022 and was convicted nearly two years later.

The court has also imposed a seven-year driving ban in the case, according to police.

"Our thoughts remain with the two injured officers and their loved ones as their lives have been forever changed," Chief Supt. Graham de la Gorgendiere of the Burnaby RCMP said in a statement.

"This was an extremely difficult and complex investigation, with many teams and police officers methodically working towards this result. I want to specifically recognize our criminal collision investigation team, which tirelessly moved this file forward over the nearly five-year investigation."