A driver who killed an 11-year-old girl after drunkenly plowing his truck into a minivan a decade ago has been jailed again, this time following a drunk-driving crash on the Trans-Canada Highway near Kamloops.
Karl Matthew Schwarz, 39, pleaded guilty Friday in Kamloops provincial court to charges of impaired driving, driving while prohibited and breach of a release order, as well as two counts of domestic assault.
Court heard police received multiple calls about an erratic driver on Highway 1 outside Chase on Oct. 5. Crown prosecutor Brock Bellrichard said one witness told officers he saw the vehicle’s male driver beating a female passenger while driving.
The vehicle crashed and police arrived on scene a short time later. Mounties ordered Schwarz out at gunpoint and placed him under arrest.
Bellrichard said Schwarz provided two breath samples to police, each of which showed he had a blood-alcohol level of .200 — more than twice the legal limit.
One of the assault charges to which Schwarz pleaded guilty stemmed from an incident in Surrey in September. Both assaults involve the same victim.
On Sept. 20, 2013, Schwarz was driving drunk in Calgary when his pickup struck a family’s minivan and killed 11-year-old Tammy Truong.
In that case, police determined Schwarz’s blood-alcohol level was at least twice the legal limit. He pleaded guilty to a charge of impaired driving causing death and in 2017 was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, plus a five-year driving prohibition.
“Mr. Schwarz is not being re-sentenced for that today, but that offence colours Crown’s position on the impaired driving,” Bellrichard said.
“It’s aggravating that he has a prior history of impaired driving in which a person was killed, and here he is again driving while more than twice the legal limit.”
Defence lawyer Melissa Lowe said Schwarz lives in the Salmon Arm area, where he supports his three children. She said he struggles with alcohol use.
“I just want to apologize for everything,” Schwarz said in court. “I take responsibility for whatever sentence I get.”
Provincial court Judge Terence Wright said the fatal Calgary crash should have been enough of a wake-up call for Schwarz.
“To put it bluntly, one would have thought he learned his lesson after that incident,” he said.
Wright went along with a joint submission for a 187-day jail sentence, to be followed by 12 months of probation and a three-year driving prohibition.
Once he has been given credit for time served, Schwarz will have 111 days remaining on his sentence.
