FILE PHOTO: Police cordoned off a section of 27 Avenue Feb. 10, 2016.

(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)

VERNON - The man accused of intentionally hitting a North Okanagan woman with his car during a bizarre incident in 2016 pleaded not guilty this morning on the first day of his Supreme Court trial.

Abd’l-Malik Loubissi-Morris, who was 18 at the time, sat in the accused box today wearing a black suit and shiny dress shoes. He’s charged with assault with a weapon, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, possession of a controlled substance and assault causing bodily harm in relation to the Feb. 10, 2016 incident.

That day, a 23-year-old woman was walking along 27 Avenue with her boyfriend and another friend when a BMW drove directly at them and pinned the woman under the car. Her boyfriend, Thomas Ritchie, attacked the driver and was later charged with assault. The judge in that case noted Ritchie was attempting to save his girlfriend and let him off with a suspended sentence and probation.

READ MORE: Victim describes assault with a BMW in Vernon

Loubissi-Morris watched intently today as several police officers testified about the incident. Const. Clay Fixsen said the scene was “extremely chaotic” when he and his partner arrived shortly after 1 p.m. He said the location of the incident was outside a well known drug “flop house” located at 3509 27 Avenue, which has since been torn down. Fixsen said while it was still standing, police were called there almost daily.

Under examination by Crown counsel Garry Hansen, Fixsen described how his duties that day brought him to Vernon Jubilee Hospital, where Loubissi-Morris was bleeding badly on a stretcher.

“Dried blood all over his face. He looked to be in really rough condition,” Fixsen said.

He testified that a pile of Loubissi-Morris’ bloody clothing lay on the operating room floor. In one of his shoes, Fixsen found what appeared to be a bag of drugs. Other items included marijuana, about $400 to $500 in cash, a knife and three cell phones, one of which continued to ring non-stop.

Loubissi-Morris, who Fixsen described as conscious and able to communicate, was arrested for drug trafficking and dangerous driving.

Defence counsel Cory Armour stated to Const. Fixsen that the accused was in a fair degree of pain at the time of the arrest, to which Fixsen replied that he couldn’t judge the level of pain but agreed Loubissi-Morris was in “rough shape.”

The trial is scheduled for another four days before Justice Brenda Brown. 

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