By Jennifer Saltman, the Province
A Surrey man who rammed his vehicle into two police cars and injured two RCMP officers last year has been found guilty of four criminal charges.
James Burton Weaver, 48, was convicted Wednesday in provincial court in Surrey of two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and two counts of assault with a weapon.
A six-day trial was held in December of last year and May of this year, and during that trial it was not disputed that Weaver committed the offences of which he was accused. The issue was Weaver’s state of mind at the time.
On Wednesday, defence lawyer David Albert said that a psychiatrist who examined Weaver was unable to find that he suffered from a mental disorder when he rammed the police cars, meaning that he could not be found not criminally responsible for his actions. Because of that, Albert asked the judge to find his client guilty.
Shortly before 3 p.m. on Jan. 27, 2014, Weaver drove his Ford Explorer through the parking lot of the Surrey RCMP’s Newton district office, in the 7200-block 137th Street, and hit a parked police car, which was pushed into another parked police car.
A male officer who was standing between the two police cars was pinned. There was also a female officer sitting in the first vehicle that was struck.
The male officer suffered a minor leg injury. The female officer was treated for soft-tissue injuries, a hematoma on her left shoulder and a torn rotator cuff.
Weaver was not injured and was arrested at the scene.
Sentencing was adjourned to allow for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.
Crown prosecutor Winston Sayson said he would also be seeking victim-impact statements from the injured officers and possibly their watch commander.
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