WINNIPEG — The 23-year-old son of a Manitoba woman killed in a crash with an off-duty police officer says he was angry when a prosecutor told him that drunk-driving charges would be dropped.

Crystal Taman was driving north of Winnipeg on a sunny day in February 2005 when her tiny car was rear-ended by a pickup truck driven by Derek Harvey-Zenk.

Charges against Harvey-Zenk initially included impaired driving causing death and refusing a breathalyzer.

But he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of dangerous driving causing death in a controversial plea bargain that is now under scrutiny at a judicial inquiry in Winnipeg.

Jordan Taman told the inquiry that Crown prosecutor Marty Minuk informed his family there wasn’t enough evidence to prove alcohol was a factor in the crash.

The son also said his father was angry at the news because the family had hoped the alcohol-related charges would send a message.

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