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A bizarre and tragic incident Monday night has left a bicycle courier dead and a former Ontario attorney general facing charges of criminal negligence.
Michael Bryant was charged Tuesday with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death. He was released with conditions and is slated to appear in court on Oct. 19.
Police allege, there was a verbal altercation and collision between a man driving a Saab convertible and a cyclist that resulted in the biker clinging to the exterior of the car as it drove away.
Darcy Allan Sheppard, a bike courier, died in hospital Monday night.
Witnesses told reporters the driver steered the car into the oncoming lanes, where the cyclist — hanging from the vehicle on the curb side for about 100 metres — struck trees and a mailbox before hitting the ground.
“We have enough information to substantiate the charges,” in the accident that caused the death of Mr. Sheppard, said Toronto Police Traffic Services Sgt. Tim Burrows.
Burrows said many witnesses had come forward and video from personal hand-held devices and security footage had assisted in the investigation.
Bryant, who had been arrested not far from the scene Monday night and remained in police custody overnight, struggled to maintain his composure while briefly addressing the media outside a downtown Toronto police station.
“I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Sheppard,” he said.
“To all of those who have offered support to my family over the past 12 hours, thank you. May I ask that the media continue to respect my family’s need for distance and privacy for the next few days.”
Bryant’s role as a former Ontario attorney general and a three-time elected member of provincial parliament led to an intense level of attention on Toronto’s 23rd traffic fatality of 2009.
This spring, Bryant stepped down from his position in the provincial government to head Invest Toronto, an economic development agency for the city. Before that, he was among the highest profile members of Ontario’s government, holding the positions of aboriginal affairs minister and minister of economic development during his 10 years at Queen’s Park.
“It is very tragic how events that unfold inside a minute can have such a profound impact on people’s lives,” Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday while expressing his condolences to the victim’s family.
Said Toronto Mayor David Miller in a statement: “I want to express sincere condolences to the family and friends of the cyclist who died last night following an incident in the Yorkville area.
“As this is an active police investigation, I will not be making any further comment on this tragedy.”
High-profile Vancouver lawyer Richard Peck was observed entering the Old City Hall courthouse in downtown Toronto Tuesday. A source indicated Peck flew to Toronto and would be named independent prosecutor in the case.
While the charges against Bryant are serious, it is not uncommon for someone facing such allegations to be released pending trial if they have no criminal record. It is unusual though, to be released at the police station without being required to seek bail in court.
The charge of criminal negligence causing death carries a maximum penalty under the Criminal Code of life in prison. Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle has a 14-year maximum penalty.
If ultimately convicted, any sentence imposed against Bryant likely will be far from the maximum allowed, based on the precedents in Canada for these types of offences.
One of three men in an alleged street race on Highway 400 in southern Ontario that killed a trucker in June 2007, received a 30-month sentence after pleading guilty to criminal negligence causing death.
In another high-profile case, the Ontario Court of Appeal last year upheld a two-year conditional sentence against two young men who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in a 2006 accident that claimed the life of a taxi driver.
Very little is known about what caused the conflict beyond what Toronto police have confirmed. The altercation began at about 9:45 p.m., near the corner of Bay and Bloor streets and carried on west to Avenue Road, in the city’s tony downtown Yorkville district.
Sheppard is then believed to have approached the Saab convertible and grabbed on to the vehicle. The driver then allegedly drove off — some witnesses alleged the vehicle accelerated quickly — while the cyclist was clinging to the side of the car, before he fell to the road.
Bryant was arrested at a nearby hotel after alerting police to his location, Burrows said.
A woman in the vehicle with him at the time had also called police.
The tight-knit courier community in downtown Toronto stressed Tuesday that Sheppard, known as Allan to many of his friends, was universally liked by his colleagues.
“You have to print the truth about him,” said courier Barry Ridley. “Allan would go out of his way to help people. He was one of the nicest guys. He was an amateur comedian, he was always asking me to give him some new jokes,” said Ridley.
“He was more of a fun-loving guy,” echoed courier John Baker. According to Baker, it would be out of character for Sheppard to be the aggressor in a dispute with the driver of a vehicle.
“It is hard to share the roads. People have to remember, that a car is 2,000 pounds. My bike weighs 16 pounds,” said Baker.
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Michael Bryant was charged Tuesday with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death. He was released with conditions and is slated to appear in court on Oct. 19.
Police allege, there was a verbal altercation and collision between a man driving a Saab convertible and a cyclist that resulted in the biker clinging to the exterior of the car as it drove away.
Darcy Allan Sheppard, a bike courier, died in hospital Monday night.
Witnesses told reporters the driver steered the car into the oncoming lanes, where the cyclist — hanging from the vehicle on the curb side for about 100 metres — struck trees and a mailbox before hitting the ground.
“We have enough information to substantiate the charges,” in the accident that caused the death of Mr. Sheppard, said Toronto Police Traffic Services Sgt. Tim Burrows.
Burrows said many witnesses had come forward and video from personal hand-held devices and security footage had assisted in the investigation.
Bryant, who had been arrested not far from the scene Monday night and remained in police custody overnight, struggled to maintain his composure while briefly addressing the media outside a downtown Toronto police station.
“I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Sheppard,” he said.
“To all of those who have offered support to my family over the past 12 hours, thank you. May I ask that the media continue to respect my family’s need for distance and privacy for the next few days.”
Bryant’s role as a former Ontario attorney general and a three-time elected member of provincial parliament led to an intense level of attention on Toronto’s 23rd traffic fatality of 2009.
This spring, Bryant stepped down from his position in the provincial government to head Invest Toronto, an economic development agency for the city. Before that, he was among the highest profile members of Ontario’s government, holding the positions of aboriginal affairs minister and minister of economic development during his 10 years at Queen’s Park.
“It is very tragic how events that unfold inside a minute can have such a profound impact on people’s lives,” Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday while expressing his condolences to the victim’s family.
Said Toronto Mayor David Miller in a statement: “I want to express sincere condolences to the family and friends of the cyclist who died last night following an incident in the Yorkville area.
“As this is an active police investigation, I will not be making any further comment on this tragedy.”
High-profile Vancouver lawyer Richard Peck was observed entering the Old City Hall courthouse in downtown Toronto Tuesday. A source indicated Peck flew to Toronto and would be named independent prosecutor in the case.
While the charges against Bryant are serious, it is not uncommon for someone facing such allegations to be released pending trial if they have no criminal record. It is unusual though, to be released at the police station without being required to seek bail in court.
The charge of criminal negligence causing death carries a maximum penalty under the Criminal Code of life in prison. Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle has a 14-year maximum penalty.
If ultimately convicted, any sentence imposed against Bryant likely will be far from the maximum allowed, based on the precedents in Canada for these types of offences.
One of three men in an alleged street race on Highway 400 in southern Ontario that killed a trucker in June 2007, received a 30-month sentence after pleading guilty to criminal negligence causing death.
In another high-profile case, the Ontario Court of Appeal last year upheld a two-year conditional sentence against two young men who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in a 2006 accident that claimed the life of a taxi driver.
Very little is known about what caused the conflict beyond what Toronto police have confirmed. The altercation began at about 9:45 p.m., near the corner of Bay and Bloor streets and carried on west to Avenue Road, in the city’s tony downtown Yorkville district.
Sheppard is then believed to have approached the Saab convertible and grabbed on to the vehicle. The driver then allegedly drove off — some witnesses alleged the vehicle accelerated quickly — while the cyclist was clinging to the side of the car, before he fell to the road.
Bryant was arrested at a nearby hotel after alerting police to his location, Burrows said.
A woman in the vehicle with him at the time had also called police.
The tight-knit courier community in downtown Toronto stressed Tuesday that Sheppard, known as Allan to many of his friends, was universally liked by his colleagues.
“You have to print the truth about him,” said courier Barry Ridley. “Allan would go out of his way to help people. He was one of the nicest guys. He was an amateur comedian, he was always asking me to give him some new jokes,” said Ridley.
“He was more of a fun-loving guy,” echoed courier John Baker. According to Baker, it would be out of character for Sheppard to be the aggressor in a dispute with the driver of a vehicle.
“It is hard to share the roads. People have to remember, that a car is 2,000 pounds. My bike weighs 16 pounds,” said Baker.
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