A trucker who fatally hit a cyclist on the Plateau and then threw the bike away and continued on his way as if nothing had happened has shown willful blindness, a judge ruled by convicting him of fatal hit and run.
• Read also: Cyclist caught on Le Plateau: “I was wondering where the bike came from”
“The mere presence of the bicycle required further investigation. It was not a trash can or a branch under the vehicle, but material belonging to a human, “concluded Judge Pierre Labelle before delivering his verdict in the case of Brandon Marchand-Bibeau, this Wednesday at the courthouse. from Montreal.
Courtesy picture
The victim’s bicycle after the impact.
Marchand-Bibeau, 26, was therefore not believed when he swore that he did not know he had hit a cyclist at the corner of Parc and Mont-Royal avenues on September 27, 2021.
That day, the accused was transporting large gravel to a construction site in Outremont when, in the middle of the afternoon, he ran over Andrea Rovere, 31, with his vehicle weighing more than 14 tons.
Photo taken from LinkedIn
Andrea Rovere. deceased cyclist
According to a reconstruction expert, the bike got stuck under the truck, which continued on its way for 300 meters before the driver came to a stop. And after seeing the bike, Marchand-Bibeau just got rid of it.
“He threw the bike into the woods, while taking his time nonchalantly,” noted a witness to the scene.
Courtesy picture
The impact of the bike on the truck (circled).
The accused was arrested once he arrived at his destination. But if the investigation concluded that the death of the cyclist was an accident, the fact that he left the scene earned him to be charged with a fatal hit and run.
For Me Franco Montesano of the defense, the evidence showed that his client had no idea that he had something to reproach himself for, and therefore, that he could not be found guilty.
“He voluntarily tried not to understand why there was a bicycle, had retorted Me Sylvie Dulude of the Crown. The bike didn’t appear out of thin air like that. »
After a careful analysis of the evidence, the judge concluded that there was willful blindness. Marchand-Bibeau will return to court later for arguments on the sentence to be imposed on him.