DANGEROUS DRIVER JAILED

Crash caused life-altering injuries

Stephen Brewster's impatience behind the wheel last year that left a young woman with traumatic, life-altering injuries means he will be spending the next 31 months in a federal penitentiary.

And it will be a decade before Brewster legally drives again.

Maresa Cappelli, 20, was behind the wheel of the vehicle Brewster struck on June 21, 2019, after he crossed the median line on Highway 3 while en route between construction jobs in Leamington and Windsor.

Cappelli observedings Friday on Zoom with her mother while several other family members sat in court, sporting supportive T-shirts.

Ontario Court Justice Christine Malott read a lengthy decision that levied Brewster a one-year sentence on a charge of failing to remain at the scene of an accident. Brewster also was sentenced to two years for dangerous driving causing bodily harm. The sentences will be served consecutively. A credit of seven months in custody on the fail-to-remain charge brings the total sentence to two years and seven months. thought “It was out a thoughtful decision and and well- my sympathies are with the family,” said assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Holmes. “The judge was really eloquent in saying the effects on the family and, of course Mar(marissa) were devastating, and nothing she could do is going to change that but she had a really thoughtful and fair decision.” Malott also ordered a 10-year driving ban — the longest possible in Canada — and ordered a sample of Brewster's DNA be taken and stored in the national databank. Holmes had been asking for a sentence in the range of 3½ to four years, while defence attorney Evan Weber was asking for nine to 15 months. Weber did not respond to a request for comment. Cappelli had just graduated from St. Clair College on the first day of summer and had swerved her Ford Fusion to avoid Brewster's oncoming GMC Envoy, which only worsened her fate. Cappelli had her face shattered and remained in a coma for weeks with a life-threatening brain injury Her father, Franco Cappelli, who is convinced his daughter's quick reaction saved his life in the passenger seat, said in court last month Cappelli had been exuberant and chatting about a bright future after having dropped off an application for a job as a dental assistant in Windsor.

Brewster abandoned his smashed vehicle and fled the scene on foot, eventually being picked up nearby by a colleague. It took police six days to track him down and make an arrest. The Envoy was his, but the plate had been taken from his landlord. Brewster had two previous convictions for driving without a permit, as well as three convictions for driving without insurance.

At the time of the crash, he was the subject of a Windsor police arrest warrant.

Charged with nine counts under the Criminal Code and Highway Traffic Act, the father of five young children pleaded guilty in February to twin counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and failure to remain at the scene.