Coroner to Investigate Deadly 2020 Police Pursuit Crash
Nearly five years after a tragic collision claimed three lives during a police chase on Highway 1, the British Columbia Coroners Service has scheduled a formal inquest. The proceedings will examine the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Gabriel Johnson Choi, 35, Hasan Khaled Ayyad, 29, and Allison Dawn Gilchrist, 43, who died when a vehicle fleeing police collided head-on with their car.
Details of the Fatal December 2020 Incident
The fatal collision occurred in the early morning hours of December 29, 2020, when RCMP officers from the Upper Fraser Valley detachment responded to reports of a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction on Highway 1 near Laidlaw. According to the Independent Investigations Office of B.C., the location is approximately halfway between Chilliwack and Hope.
Police located the suspect vehicle traveling westbound at excessive speed in the eastbound lanes near Annis Road. The pursuing officer attempted to warn other motorists of the danger before the suspect vehicle collided head-on with an eastbound vehicle and immediately caught fire.
Emergency responders extracted one person from the eastbound vehicle, who was transported to hospital with serious injuries. Tragically, officers were unable to remove the driver and passenger from the suspect vehicle, and both were pronounced dead at the scene.
Victims and Investigation Findings
The injured person pulled from the eastbound vehicle was identified as Gabriel Johnson Choi, a federal corrections officer who was heading to work when the accident occurred. Choi succumbed to his injuries the following day, becoming the third fatality in the incident.
The Independent Investigations Office, which automatically investigates any death or serious injury during police interactions, completed its investigation in February 2022. The IIO cleared the pursuing officer of wrongdoing, noting that the officer had chosen to risk his own safety to warn other motorists about the wrong-way driver.
Former IIO chief civilian director Ronald J. MacDonald wrote in his report that while the officer's efforts were ultimately unsuccessful in preventing the collision, "it cannot be said that the officer's choice was the wrong one" given the difficult circumstances.
Upcoming Inquest and Expected Outcomes
The coroner's inquest has been scheduled for December 8 to December 19, 2025 in Burnaby. Unlike criminal proceedings, a coroner's inquest cannot make findings of legal responsibility or blameworthiness.
Instead, the process will focus on determining the facts surrounding the deaths and may result in recommendations from the chief coroner aimed at preventing similar incidents in the future. The nearly five-year gap between the accident and the inquest is not uncommon for complex cases involving multiple investigations.
The upcoming proceedings will provide a comprehensive examination of the events that led to this tragic loss of life on one of British Columbia's busiest highways.
