A six-year-old boy has died after being struck by an alleged drunk driver in Kelowna Monday night.
Kelowna RCMP Const. Steve Holmes told ctvbc.ca the boy and his 36-year-old mother were crossing Highway 97, a six lane highway, at around 10:20 p.m., when they were struck by a silver Honda sedan.
The mother had non-life-threatening injuries, but her son suffered critical injuries at the scene and later died at Kelowna General Hospital.
"The mother was extremely distraught, it was terrible for her and for the family," Holmes said.
The 19-year-old male driver of the car showed signs of alcohol consumption and failed a breathalyzer test at the scene. He was traveling with one other person in the passenger seat at the time of the collision.
Holmes said the suspect is a novice driver with a class 5 driver's license. Novice drivers are not allowed to drive with any alcohol in their body.
He was taken to jail where police say later breath samples showed he was over the legal limit. This comes just days before the legal limit in B.C. changes to 0.05 on September 1.
The suspect was released from jail with a promise to appear in court on December 30. He will likely face charges of impaired driving causing death and impaired driving causing injury.
Holmes said the victims were crossing the highway between Dilworth Drive and Cooper Road coming from Orchard Park Mall at the time of the collision. They were not using a crosswalk or intersection when they were struck.
There was some damage to the Honda and the vehicle is being held by police as part of the investigation.
The investigation is ongoing and witnesses are encouraged to contact the Kelowna RCMP.
