Driver who fatally struck 2 pedestrians in Mimico was banned from driving: police

A man who fatally struck two pedestrians after fleeing the scene of an earlier minor collision was driving despite a Canada-wide licence suspension, police revealed on Friday.

Police say the 36-year-old man was driving a white 2020 Cadillac XT6 eastbound on Lake Shore Boulevard West and Eighth Street when he struck a vehicle that was parked on the south side of Lake Shore at around 5:15 p.m.

Police described the collision as “minor” but said the driver of the Cadillac appeared to be having a seizure and was unresponsive after the crash, prompting people in the area to smash the vehicle’s window in an effort to help him.

Toronto Fire crews arrived on scene, but police say about 12 minutes later the man got back in his vehicle and fled the scene eastbound on Lake Shore Blvd. W., before officers showed up.

Police say the vehicle was speeding when it struck a 75-year-old man and 43-year-old woman who were attempting to cross from the north side of Lake Shore Blvd. W. and Superior Avenue at a crosswalk. Police confirmed the pedestrians had the right of way and the driver ran a red.

After striking the pedestrians, who both died, the driver rear-ended a flatbed trailer that was parked and unoccupied for TTC track construction.

The driver of the Cadillac was later declared dead at the scene.

In an update Friday police said the driver was under:

• a Canada-wide Criminal Code driving prohibition
• a provincial driver’s license medical suspension
• an additional administrative Provincial driver’s license suspension

Superintendent Scott Baptist called the investigation “complex and multi-faceted” and revealed that the driver’s federal ban was “related to a criminal code conviction.”

He did not provide details on the previous conviction, but said it wasn’t connected to a fatality.

Baptist also noted that the driver was not the registered owner of the Cadillac, but didn’t explain how he had access to the vehicle.

Friends of two pedestrians killed, and even complete strangers, lay flowers and candles at Lake Shore and Superior Ave., where a man banned from driving sped through a red light, crashed, and also died, Thursday evening. @CityNewsTO Hear the story at https://t.co/sqfQAD4xr2 pic.twitter.com/A1A0dIsOqg

— Mark Douglas (@DouglasCityNews) April 1, 2022

Pedestrians ‘never saw it coming’

Eyewitness Dan Major told CityNews he saw the driver veer into the wrong lane and into oncoming traffic at a high speed before the pedestrians were struck.

They “never even saw it coming,” he said on Thursday night. “They were just crossing the street at a green light. It’s sick.”

Duty Insp. Kathlin Seremetkovski said the vehicle was not being pursued by any law enforcement agency at the time of fatal collision.

The province’s Special Investigations Unit tells CityNews it has not been called in by Toronto police.

With files from John Marchesan