Crown seeks 2-year jail term for B.C. driver in baby stroller hit-and-run

Crown prosecutors are seeking a two-year jail sentence followed by 18 months’ probation for a B.C. hit-and-run driver who blew a stop sign, struck a grandmother and her 11-month-old grandson and then continued for five blocks with the baby and stroller attached to his vehicle.

Kyle Nicholas Luca, 31, pleaded guilty in September to impaired driving causing bodily harm and failing to stop at an accident involving bodily harm in the April 22, 2024 collision in downtown Squamish.

At a sentencing hearing in North Vancouver Provincial Court Tuesday, defence counsel suggested six months in custody followed by a 12-month conditional sentence to be served in the community, claiming Luca has participated in extensive counselling and rehabilitative efforts.

According to an Agreed Statement of Facts read by Crown counsel, Carolyn Brown, her husband, daughter and infant grandson were visiting from Ontario and out for an evening walk when she and the stroller carrying the baby were hit in a marked crosswalk on Pemberton Avenue.

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The impact, said prosecutor Kenny Wu, lifted Brown into the air where she flew over the road, while the stroller became lodged in the front bumper of the white 2016 Nissan Maxima Luca was driving.

Court heard Luca kept on driving and blew two more stop signs before Jamie Powney followed and used his truck to block the hit-and-run vehicle.

Bystanders were able to free the baby while Powney told Global News he tossed Luca’s keys and belongings into a ditch before confronting him.

“I made sure that he wasn’t going to go anywhere,” said Powney in a July 2025 interview. “I said, ‘Are you drunk, have you been drinking, what is this?’”

Wu said Luca, who was arrested at the scene, told Powney he was not drunk and someone “threw the baby in front of him.”

Court heard empty liquor cans were found in Luca’s Nissan, and he had a blood alcohol level of 110mg/100ml.

“Kyle’s actions shattered my role as a parent and protector for my family,” Brown’s daughter and baby Quinn’s mother Sara Cooper told the court in one of nine victim impact statements. “To see my Mom lying lifeless in the street with blood pooling at her head and have to choose to run away so that I could frantically search for my missing and likely dead baby was horrific.”

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Baby Quinn suffered a bump on the head, bruising to his face and cuts on his tongue.

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“Miraculously, Quinn did not suffer fatal injuries,” his father Daniel McParland told the court.

While crediting the actions of bystanders who removed his baby from the vehicle, McParland said Luca’s actions hurt his family physically and emotionally.

“It will be a burden that we carry for the rest of our lives,” he read from his victim impact statement.

Brown, a rural family physician, was treated at Lions Gate Hospital for multiple injuries including a concussion, traumatic brain injury and skull laceration.

In her victim impact statement read by Crown, Brown described walking and imbalance problems, ongoing headaches, hearing loss, and vertigo resulting from the hit-and-run.

She was forced to give up her practice in Oct. 2024 and now earns one quarter of her previous income, filling in for other doctors a few hours at a time.

“I can’t do everything I did before,” Brown wrote. “In general, I’m thankful to be alive.”

Luca, who was released following his April 2024 arrest and again after he was charged in March 2025, also pleaded guilty to breaching his bail by driving on June 26, 2025.

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Court heard Luca was arrested after blowing a fail during a traffic stop by Squamish RCMP near Britannia Beach.

Luca was subsequently released and had been living at recovery houses until early July, when the Crown said he breached his 7 p.m. curfew by not returning home until the afternoon of July 9.

While under electronic monitoring, Wu told the court Luca was located near Jack Poole Plaza on the evening of July 8 and in various parts of downtown Vancouver until his ankle monitor ran out of batteries around 3:00 a.m.

He was arrested July 16 and has remained in custody since.

Crown counsel is seeking a three-year driving ban, noting Luca has been prohibited by the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles six times and his driving record includes 10 entries for speeding – two of them for excessive speeding.

On Sept. 28, 2024, and months after the baby stroller hit-and-run, Wu said Luca received a 24-hour prohibition for alcohol.

“It represents a concerning pattern of disobeying the rules of the road,” Wu told the court.

Even while in residential treatment, Crown counsel said no level of supervision can manage Luca’s risk, and a jail sentence is necessary.

“Luca has demonstrated repeated failures to abide by his bail conditions,” said Wu.

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Defence counsel Don Muldoon argued a custodial sentence would be too harsh for his client, who has taken genuine strides to deal with his substance abuse issues and has made “tremendous progress”.

Luca, who was raised in Squamish, was supported in court by his mother, father, sister, brother and uncle, and Muldoon said he hopes to return to the family home.

Court heard Luca was born prematurely and has had numerous medical and mental health challenges since he was an infant – including dyslexia, ADHD, and anxiety disorder.

As an adult, Muldoon said his client fractured a hip, has a herniated disc in his back and significant vision difficulties.

Luca also struggles with alcohol use disorder, and defence counsel told the court his client started to attend AA meetings after the hit-and-run, and has resided in recovery homes for the better part of a year.

Muldoon acknowledged Luca drove contrary to a release condition and also breached his curfew in another incident, but said relapses are common and it’s the ability to return and commit yourself to the program that’s commendable.

“Has it been perfect? No,” said Muldoon, adding he believes his client has the capacity to be compliant in the future.

Luca’s family told Global News he apologized in court, and is remorseful for the events of April 22, 2024.

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Judge Ariana Ward is expected to deliver her decision on Nov. 2.