EDMONTON - An Edmonton man has admitted he was driving drunk after leaving a party when he ran over his good friend and pinned him under the wheels of his car.

Srdjan Babic, 24, pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing bodily harm Friday in Court of Queen's Bench.

Crown prosecutor Julie Snowdon told court a witness came upon a Volkswagen Golf parked in the middle of a debris-strewn street at Rossdale Road near 103 Street. The vehicle appeared to have been involved in a collision about 3:30 a.m. on April 9, 2009.

The man saw a body pinned under the car and a person slumped over the wheel who appeared to be trying to move the vehicle to free the victim, said Snowdon.

"He could hear the person trapped under the car screaming," said Snowdon, adding the witness helped Babic move the car and another passerby called 911 before victim Mgante Takai was taken to hospital.

Babic was observed crying at the scene and saying "What did I do to my friend," said Snowdon.

Babic also told witnesses they had been at a party.

It was not revealed in court as to how Takai became trapped under the car.

At the hospital, where Takai was treated for a fractured vertebrae and serious abrasions to the head and chest, Babic confessed to police he had been driving.

He was sobbing, had bloodshot eyes and failed a roadside breathalyzer test, said Snowdon.

Babic later gave two blood samples to police with blood-alcohol readings of .12 and .13, court heard.

Defence lawyer Gordon Collins told court that Takai, whom he said was a good friend of Babic's, had made a full recovery and returned to his home in Africa.

A pre-sentence report was ordered and Babic, who remains free on bail, is slated to be sentenced on Nov. 18.

Babic surrendered his driver's licence and is prohibited from driving until sentencing, when it is expected he will lose his licence for several years.

tony.blais@sunmedia.ca