Banned drunk driver in crash charged with getting behind wheel again

A Winnipeg man who served time for drunkenly slamming a minivan into an off-duty police officer riding a motorcycle in 2023 is accused of getting behind the wheel, despite court orders.

Braedon Lee Gordon, 25, is charged with one count of driving while prohibited for an incident on March 2. His next court date is later this month.

Dan Léveillé, a veteran Winnipeg Police Service constable who was left with life-altering injuries in the June 14, 2023, collision, said he was not surprised to learn of the new charge.

“This is just another one of those stories, where a habitual, repeat offender is charged for the same offence. After having served time, his behaviour continues,” said Léveillé.

“The only way things are going to change is if there’s a culture change from the top on down, so that’s the Supreme Court of Canada, which would likely mean there would have to be a new political party leading the country.”

Gordon was handed 35 months in prison after pleading guilty in July 2024 to one count of driving with a blood-alcohol level over .08 causing bodily harm over the 2023 crash.

Gordon was already ordered not to get behind the wheel at the time of the 2023 collision and had three prior alcohol-related driving convictions on his record.

Léveillé, now 53, was riding his motorcycle to work around 6 a.m. that day, when Gordon turned his minivan into the officer’s path at Talbot Avenue and Levis Street and struck him head on.

Léveillé was thrown onto the minivan’s windshield and landed on the road several metres away.

At the 2024 hearing, the judge prohibited Gordon, whom Manitoba Public Insurance had already barred from driving in the province for life, from driving for eight years by court order.

Based on his experience as a police officer, Léveillé said he thinks repeat offenders like Gordon only stop breaching orders and committing further offences when behind bars or dead.

“I’m not surprised, but I’m pleased that he’s (possibly) going to be punished again, if only for the fact that the longer he’s behind bars, the less likely he can hurt somebody else, because one of these days, he’s going to take somebody’s life,” he said.

Léveillé suffered a fractured spine and pelvis, ruptured rectum, a broken arm, leg and nose and other injuries only discovered after several days in hospital.

He now uses a cane or walker to walk, which he can only do for a limited period, so typically uses a wheelchair when leaving the house, he said. Léveillé remains a police officer, but is now considered a supernumerary and can’t actively work.

“Physically, though I’ve improved with my walker or cane, I can’t go very far without sitting to rest,” he said. “I’m still in pain every day.”

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca