Grandparents killed in Highway 401 crash identified by Indian Consulate General
The grandparents, a 60-year-old man and 55-year-old woman, were visiting their young grandson from India. The parents of the child, a 33-year-old father and 27-year-old mother, were also in the Nissan Sentra and survived.
“Heartfelt condolences on tragic loss of Indian nationals Mr. Manivannan, Mrs. Mahalakshmi & their grandchild in the Highway 401 collision. CG met the bereaved family at the hospital & assured all possible assistance. We are in touch with Canadian authorities,” the post on X said.
The grandparents, a 60-year-old man and 55-year-old woman, were visiting their young grandson from India, according to the Special Investigations Unit, the civilian police watchdog in charge of investigating the crash that happened Monday night in Whitby. The parents of the child, a 33-year-old father and 27-year-old mother, were also in the Nissan Sentra and survived.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
The mother was taken to hospital and treated for “serious injuries,” according to the SIU. She is expected to live, the Star has confirmed. The father was also taken to hospital and suffered minor injuries.
The family lives in the Ajax area.
The 21-year-old driver of the U-Haul cube van that Durham Regional Police had been chasing after a robbery at a Bowmanville LCBO also died in the head-on collision, while the other occupant of the van suffered serious injuries.
One of the suspects pulled a knife on an off-duty police officer who was in the LCBO at the time of the robbery, according to radio calls from a Whitby Ontario Provincial Police dispatcher. The dispatcher also reported the off-duty officer followed the van in a red Honda and that several Durham police vehicles pursued the van west from the LCBO.
A Durham regional police supervisor called off the pursuit shortly before the van drove onto Highway 401, via Stevenson Road in Oshawa, but officers continued to give chase, an internal Durham police report obtained by the Star about the events leading to the crash revealed. The crash, which involved at least six vehicles including a semi-trailer, happened about three minutes later.
One of the officers said they believed the police presence on the highway would “alert the public that something was wrong and hopefully they see the suspect vehicle to get out of the way,” according to the report, which is intended to capture the officer’s detailed account of what transpired.
The police actions and whether the pursuit followed the rules laid out in Ontario legislation are part of the investigation underway by the SIU.
The liquor store robbery that sparked the police response was similar to incidents that happen in LCBO stores daily, according to one employee familiar with the matter.
“This particular situation was a regular situation we see all the time,” said the LCBO employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly on the situation.
The employee does not work at the Bowmanville location where the robbery occurred but has spoken to others who were there. According to their accounts, it was a theft of “product.”
It is their belief, according to the employee, that an off-duty officer was in the store shopping when they observed a young man commit the theft and that if a weapon was drawn, it was done outside.
Staff only learned the theft was linked to the police chase that went westbound in eastbound lanes on Highway 401 after the media reported it, the employee said.
The LCBO has a no-intervention policy prohibiting staff from intervening when a theft or robbery occurs.
Alyshah
Hasham is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and
municipal politics for the Star. Reach her via email: ahasham@thestar.ca or follow her on
Twitter: @alysanmati.
Calvi Leon
is a Toronto-based general assignment reporter for the Star. Reach
her via email: cleon@thestar.ca
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