Impaired Driving Charges Follow Fatal 403 Crash
Posted September 12, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A man is facing a number of charges, including impaired driving, after a two-vehicle crash on Highway 403 early Friday that claimed the lives of two people.
The collision happened on the westbound collectors lanes east of Cawthra around 4:45am. A pickup truck travelling the wrong way struck a compact car, instantly killing the two people inside, the OPP said. The dead are a 48-year-old Woodbridge man and a 45-year-old North York man. Their names aren’t being released at the request of their families.
The impact of the crash left the Toyota Corolla a smouldering heap of metal, barely recognizable. The damage was so bad authorities reportedly had a hard time determining if the victims are male or female.
“I’ve been around a long time,” said OPP Const. Dave Woodford. “I’ve gone to a lot of scenes, and this vehicle is just…the persons in this Toyota wouldn’t have a chance,” Woodford adds.
“It’s very tragic. I’ve never seen a vehicle that you can’t even tell what it is.”
“It’s hard on officers and hard on firefighters that are here at the scene and the bodies cannot be removed at this time and they’re going to have to be taken away to a different location and removed at that point,” he adds.
The truck driver walked away from the horrific accident, suffering only minor injuries. He was taken to hospital in handcuffs and arrested.
Police shut down the westbound lanes of the highway following the accident and the route reopened around 10am.
John Bakai, 25, of Burlington is facing several charges, including two counts of criminal negligence causing death and two counts of impaired driving causing death. He’s being held in custody until he makes an appearance in a Brampton court Saturday.
