Investigators are trying to piece together what happened after a horrific crash left a Brampton teacher and her three little girls dead,
Charges are expected in crash that killed teacher and her children
Peel Region’s police chief said charges are expected to be laid in the horrific multi-vehicle crash in Brampton that killed a 37-year-old teacher and her three young daughters.
The family’s van was heading northbound on Torbram Road early Thursday afternoon when it was struck by a blue Infiniti travelling eastbound on Countryside Drive, according to Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit.
Klara Ciasullo, 6, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her mother, Karolina, and sisters Lilianna, 4, and Mila, 1, were taken to hospital, where they later died.
Investigators have not formally released the name of the 20year-old driver of the Infiniti, who is in hospital with serious injuries.
But Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown wrote on Twitter that the man was driving with a suspended licence and plates that didn’t match his car.
“I am infuriated that a reckless driving incident would rob this family of their future,” Brown wrote.
In an earlier Tweet, the mayor said “community members and police tried to stop the driver,” in an unrelated incident on Tuesday, as depicted in video posted online of a similar blue Infiniti dangerously rolling through a busy Caledon intersection.
The Star could not confirm whether the Infiniti captured in the video is the same one involved in the fatal collision less than nine kilometres away just two days later.
In the video, recorded on a dashboard camera, the Infiniti is missing a front licence plate and the driver appears to be slumped against his headrest.
Sandeep Singh posted the video. In it, Singh sprints from his vehicle and desperately tries to yank open the Infiniti’s passenger door.
The Infiniti’s driver wakes up, steps on the gas, jumps the curb and crashes into roadside planters at Kennedy Road North and Dougall Avenue.
The car’s tires squeal and white smoke billows from the tail pipe. Singh and a bystander can be heard repeatedly screaming, “Turn it off!” as the driver backs up and peels away.
“Feel so sick and sad and I told the OPP that this driver would end up killing himself or worse killing others; I did not know what I said would come true,” Singh alleges in a Facebook post. He could not be reached for comment.
A name and photographs of the alleged driver have emerged online, although the Star was unable to confirm if the man, from Caledon, was involved in either incident.
Old friends of the man from his high school days in Ladysmith, B.C., remember him as being obsessed with cars.
Cecilia Gibson remained connected with the man through social media after he moved to Ontario around 2016. She said he posted pictures and videos of himself driving in ways she found to be “totally reckless.”
She said some of his web postings showed him with “lean,” a blend of cough-syrup, soda and hard candy commonly called Purple Drank or Dirty Sprite, when in the car.
“I had actually shown it to my mom and been like, ‘What the hell! This is not OK,’ ” Gibson said.
Bobby Garabet, a friend of the Ciasullo family, launched a GoFundMe campaign that had raised more than $182,000 as of Friday evening.
“It’s absolutely heartbreaking,” Garabet told the Star. “They were incredibly sweet people.”
Karolina and her husband Michael raised the three girls in Caledon.
As recently as Tuesday, Karolina was asking her moms’ group on Facebook for ideas of things her family could do on Father’s Day.
A Grade 4 teacher at Isaac Jogues Catholic Elementary School in Brampton, on the tail end of maternity leave, she was looking forward to going back to work, said close friend Liana Cancian.
“She was planning for September, with her parents babysitting her kids while she went back to work,” said Cancian.
In a statement, the DufferinPeel Catholic District School Board expressed its condolences to Ciasullo’s husband, friends and family.
“As a Catholic school community, we offer our prayers for the family and all those affected by this tragic event,” the statement read.
People from the family’s Caledon East community gathered in front of their house on Thursday night for an impromptu vigil.
The SIU launched an investigation Thursday afternoon shortly after the crash. The civilian oversight body investigates interactions involving police that result in death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
In a news release, the agency said that, prior to the collision, a Peel Regional Police officer was travelling westbound on Countryside Drive when he observed an Infiniti vehicle travelling eastbound.
The release does not say whether the officer gave chase.
“Determining what transpired, including whether or not a pursuit was initiated, will be part of the SIUs investigation,” spokesperson Monica Hudon wrote in an email to the Star.
Two other vehicles were damaged in the collision. But police did not specify the total number of people injured.
Four investigators, three forensic investigators and one collision reconstructionist from the SIU have been assigned to investigate the fatal collision.
In a statement on Friday, Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah extended his condolences to the family and encouraged the SIU to complete a swift investigation.
“I realize that these tragic incidents leave permanent scars, and it is during these times that we all need to provide support and compassion for everyone that has been affected,” he said.
“Pending further investigation, we expect that charges will be laid,” the chief added. He did not say when that might happen or how long the investigation might take.
In an update issued Friday afternoon, the SIU said that a subject officer and a witness officer have also been designated in the case.
The SIU has also interviewed more than a dozen civilian witnesses and collected video footage from various sources.
In his daily news conference, Premier Doug Ford offered his condolences to the family. “Our prayers and our thoughts are with you and your entire family,” Ford said. “Justice will be served.”
“I am infuriated that a reckless driving incident would rob this family of their future.” PATRICK BROWN BRAMPTON MAYOR