Police charge driver following fatal Wainfleet crash on Tuesday
Lakeshore Road was closed between Bessey and Cement Plant roads for investigation
A 25-year-old Port Colborne man is dead and a second Port Colborne man faces charges following a crash on Lakeshore Road in Wainfleet Tuesday night.
A third Port Colborne resident, a 21-year-old, suffered lifethreatening injuries that saw him taken to Welland hospital and then by Ornge air ambulance to an out-of-town hospital.
Niagara Regional Police, Wainfleet Fire and Emergency Services and Niagara Emergency Medical Services responded to a reported single-vehicle rollover on Lakeshore, just west of Camelot Drive, at 10:45 p.m.
Police said when officers arrived on scene they found a 2005 grey Dodge Ram truck on its roof with two people inside.
Detectives from the collision reconstruction, forensic services and traffic enforcement units determined the truck was headed eastbound on Lakeshore when it left the road on the north side, struck a tree and landed on its roof, trapping all three men.
Wainfleet Chief Morgan Alcock
said four volunteer firefighters were first on scene in their personal vehicles, followed by two fire trucks. Alcock said firefighters found two people in the truck that required extrication.
“It was fairly straightforward, we just had to remove a door and get them out,” he said, adding there was just under 20 volunteer firefighters with four trucks.
The 21-year-old was extricated by firefighters and paramedics, treated on scene and then transported to Welland hospital. A Wainfleet firefighter was on board the ambulance assisting paramedics on the way to the hospital.
An Ornge air ambulance was waiting at the helipad.
Police said the second man, the 25-year-old, was pronounced dead at the scene and they are not releasing his name.
The driver, 20-year-old Brocque John Cote, was found on scene and treated by paramedics for minor injuries.
He went to the hospital and when medically cleared was transported by prisoner management unit officers to be held in custody pending a bail hearing Wednesday in St. Catharines.
Cote was charged with the alleged criminal offences of impaired operation causing death, impaired operation causing bodily harm, and exceeding 80 mg of alcohol in 100 mL of blood.
Police said Cote was issued an administrative driver’s licence suspension that prohibits him from operating a vehicle for 90 days.
Wainfleet firefighters underwent a debriefing after police had taken control of the crash site.
“The debrief we do is twofold. It helps us learn from our response, but also helps our firefighters process the incident they just responded to.
“Mental resiliency and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is something Wainfleet fire, and most other services, take very seriously. We take whatever precautions we can to protect our firefighters,” Alcock said.
Police said the crash investigation is ongoing and anyone with information or saw the crash is asked to contact detectives at 905-688-4111 ext. 9170.