Man charged with impaired driving in fatal crash in Nanaimo, B.C.

Mounties investigate a crash on the Nanaimo Parkway. (CTV News)

A 47-year-old man has been charged with dangerous driving and impaired driving causing death following a two-vehicle collision last year on Vancouver Island.

Samuel Brody Taylor, born in 1978, was arrested and charged this week in relation to the collision that killed a 42-year-old woman in Nanaimo, according to court records and the RCMP.

A statement from the Nanaimo RCMP on Friday says Taylor was located and arrested on June 17, one day after the charges were approved by provincial prosecutors.

Police were called to the crash on the Nanaimo Parkway, between the Dunster Road overpass and the Doumont Road bridge, at approximately 8:30 p.m. on August 10, 2024.

Joy Pecknold, the one occupant of a northbound SUV, died in hospital after her vehicle was struck head-on by a dark-coloured sedan. The man driving the sedan was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Witnesses told investigators the car crossed a median into oncoming traffic before colliding with the SUV.

The Nanaimo Parkway was closed in both directions for several hours following the collision.

Taylor has been released from police custody pending his first scheduled appearance in Nanaimo provincial court on June 24.

“The victim’s family were advised of Taylor’s arrest,” the Nanaimo RCMP statement said. “As the matter is before the courts, no further information will be released.”