Driver nearly ‘wiped out’ family of four, court hears

A man who almost “wiped out” a family of four in a two-vehicle crash in Niagara involving a stolen car will likely be deported after he serves a 90-day jail term.

Judge Cameron Watson on Monday said 25-year-old Jobanjit Singh demonstrated a “reckless disregard for the safety of other people who are on the roads” when he ran a red light in a residential area of St. Catharines in the fall of 2021.

“Mr. Singh’s disregard for the lives and safety of other citizens, quite easily could have resulted in the family being wiped out,” the judge said in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines.

“It is really a miracle that nobody was hurt significantly in this crash. It quite easily could have resulted in four people being killed.”

Singh, a resident of Brampton, was sentenced to 90 days in jail and banned from driving for 12 months after pleading guilty to several charges, including failing to remain at the scene of a collision and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

On Nov 23, 2021, court was told, the defendant was behind the wheel of a stolen car that ran a red light at Grapeview Drive and collided with a second vehicle.

The occupants of the vehicle, a couple and two young children, escaped serious injury.

“It’s not an overstatement or an overreach to say we were centimetres away of a possible wiping out of a family in a car,” said assistant Crown attorney Mark Eshuis.

After the crash, Singh ran through a residential area, climbing fences and running through a number of backyards.

Several witnesses to the crash chased the motorist and held him until police arrived.

“The Good Samaritans felt it was their moral duty to chase and apprehend Mr. Singh,” the Crown told the judge.

“I personally would submit they did the right thing, but consider the risk that they took as well.”

The stolen car was totalled as a result of the crash and the second vehicle sustained significant damage.

Court was told Singh came to Canada from India on a student visa in 2016.

In less than three years, he accumulated almost a dozen violations under the Highway Traffic Act and was under a court order at the time of the crash that he not be in the driver’s seat of a motor vehicle without permission of the registered owner.

As he is not a Canadian citizen, the defendant is expected to be deported once he serves his sentence.