BY KEITH LACEY
A young man who admitted to street racing during an incident which led to the death of a popular 16-year-old high school student in Chelmsford last April pleaded guilty to dangerous driving Wednesday at the Sudbury Courthouse.
Justice John Keast ordered a pre-sentence report be prepared before sentence is passed against Jason Daoust, 18, who has been under strict bail conditions since being arrested on this matter nine months ago.
Another teenager, who can't be named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), is expected to plead guilty to similar charges when he appears in youth court next Wednesday, Jan. 31.
The young man killed in the incident, Patrick Herard, 16, is the son of an RCMP officer. It was agreed Wednesday a judge from outside Greater Sudbury should be responsible for sentencing Daoust.
Assistant Crown attorney Fran Howe said her office has no problem with a local judge handling the case, but it would be better to bring in an outside judge with no knowledge of the case to eliminate any suspicion of conflict of interest.
Keast agreed that would be the proper thing to do. He will forward the agreed statement of facts and ensure the pre-sentence report is presented to whatever judge is selected to sentence Daoust, said Keast.
Members of Herard's family were in court Wednesday as were Daoust's parents.
The agreed statement of facts presented Wednesday stated that on Saturday, April 22 around 8:35 pm, Herard was killed when he was struck by a motor vehicle being operated by the young person, who was racing a vehicle being operated by Daoust on Errington Street in Chelmsford.
When the incident occurred, Herard had just left his residence on Errington Street with his friend and was cycling to the friend's home nearby.
Herard and his friend were traveling north in the southbound lane in order to see oncoming traffic. The two cyclists were riding beside each other, with Herard being closer to the middle of the roadway.
The statement of facts says Daoust and the young person knew each other prior to this incident and had met earlier in the evening at a traffic light in Chelmsford and began a conversation through the window of their respective vehicles.
They then pulled into a parking lot and talked for a short period of time about their vehicles. During this conversation, they discussed the capabilities of their vehicles and agreed to race.
They then left the parking lot. Daoust had three passengers in his vehicle and the young person has one passenger in the front seat. Both drivers drove rapidly down Errington Street and Daoust passed the other vehicle and they both drove approximately two kilometres to the end of Errington, turned around and stopped side by side at the south end of Errington Street south.
Errington Street is a residential street with a posted speed limit of 50 kilometres an hour. At the end of the street where the race commenced, there is only one house, says the statement of facts.
At approximately one kilometre north of the point of where the race began is a built-up residential area featuring homes on both sides of Errington Street.
Both drivers were familiar with this neighbourhood as the young person's residence is on Errington Street a short distance from the Herard residence. Daoust' family lives nearby.
When the race was set to begin, a signal was given and both drivers started racing side by side northbound on Errington. Daoust was operating a 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier in the northbound lane of the two-lane road, says the statement of facts.
The young person was operating a 2000 Toyota Corolla.
Some witnesses estimate the vehicles were traveling approximately 100 to 120 kilometres an hour.
Approximately 30 seconds into the race, a fully-marked southbound Greater Sudbury Police cruiser operated by Const. Gilles Rainville met the two vehicles as they drove past.
Rainville and Const. Curtis Freeman had been patrolling southbound on Errington Street when they observed the lights of two vehicles. Rainville indicated the vehicles were approaching him at an extremely high rate of speed, which he estimated to be more than 100 kilometres an hour.
The officer said the young person's vehicle slowed down and pulled behind the Daoust vehicle upon seeing the lights of a vehicle in the southbound lane.
The young person did not initially recognize the vehicle as a police cruiser. Officers observed both approaching vehicles continued traveling at an extremely high rate of speed.
As Rainville's cruiser passed the oncoming vehicles, he activated emergency lights. The officer then pulled his cruiser to a complete stop and immediately turned it around to face northbound.
Errington Street is narrow at this point and it took a few seconds to turn the cruiser around and when that was done, the officers observed the Daoust vehicle had come to a stop on the side of the street, said the statement of facts.
Daoust and his passengers stated they stayed parked on the side of the road for five to 10 minutes and waited for the police cruiser to return. They were unaware a collision had occurred a kilometre ahead.
When the officers did not return, Daoust left the area and drove around Chelmsford and returned home around 11 pm, says the statement of facts.
The young person charged did not stop his vehicle and continued northbound on Errington Street after Daoust had pulled to the east shoulder and accelerated to speeds estimated at between 80 and 90 kilometres an hour, attempting to flee from police.
When the young person observed the oncoming car was a police cruiser, he mentioned to his passenger he was not stopping and continued without slowing down, says the statement of facts.
As he continued northbound, his attention was not on the road ahead of him and he did not notice the two northbound cyclists.
He attempted to break, but due to the speed he was traveling and short distance between his vehicle and the cyclists, it was too late.
A third constable reports he observed skid marks, consistent with heavy braking, which started 27 metres south of the point of impact.
The front driver's corner of the young person's vehicle hit Herard's bicycle, vaulting Herard off his bike onto the hood of the vehicle and propelling him a distance of 10 metres from the point of impact.
Herard landed face down on the pavement adjacent to the western curb of the street.
As a result of the collision, emergency services were called to the scene and Herard was transported to hospital, where he later succumbed to his "catastrophic injuries", says the statement of facts.
Alcohol was not involved. It was dark and the roads were damp from light rain throughout the day, but neither road conditions nor visibility contributed to the tragic collision.
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