A man accused in a Brampton, Ont. crash that killed a mother and her three young children has pleaded guilty to four counts of dangerous driving causing death.
The guilty plea was made late Monday morning at a Brampton courthouse.
Karolina Ciasullo, 37, and her three young daughters—Klara, 6, Lilianna, 3 and Mila, 1—were killed shortly after noon on June 18, 2020 after their Volkswagen Atlas was struck by an Infiniti G35 near Torbram Road and Countryside Drive.
The driver of the Infiniti, identified by police as Caledon resident Brady Robertson, was taken to the hospital and then charged in connection with the crash.
He was later charged with one additional count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle in connection with another collision that took place two days prior in Caledon, Ont, as well as four counts of impaired operation causing death by drugs in connection with the June 18 crash.
Robertson pleaded guilty to the original four counts of dangerous driving causing death, but not guilty to all other charges.
According to an agreed statement of facts presented in court, a police officer began to pursue Robertson minutes before the crash after noticing the vehicle he was driving did not have a front licence plate.
The officer did a U-turn and followed him through numerous intersections, video presented to court shows.
The court heard that Robertson went through a red light at Torbram Road and Countryside Drive, driving around stopped cars before travelling into the intersection and striking Ciasullo’s vehicle on the driver’s side.
The agreed statement of facts said that the impact of the collision forced Robertson’s vehicle into a third before ending up in the middle of the road parallel to a fourth car.
His vehicle then caught fire. Emergency crews had to pull Robertson out of the vehicle before transporting him to the hospital for treatment.
Officers found a plastic bag with four white pills inside Robertson’s vehicle. One of the pills was analyzed by Health Canada and was determined to be fentanyl, the agreed statement of facts said. Officers also found a bag of cannabis and an empty cannabis container, the court heard.
Robertson purchased the vehicle 12 days prior to the incident, the agreed statement of facts said, and had yet to register the vehicle or the licence plate in his name.
It’s alleged that the same vehicle was involved in an incident on June 16 in Caledon, Ont, leading to the single dangerous operation of a motor vehicle charge.
Video footage of the incident presented in court shows a blue-coloured vehicle slowly rolling into an intersection through a stop sign. The vehicle is seen mounting the curb while a man from a nearby vehicle gets out of his car to try and intervene.
In the video the man is seen grabbing the passenger door, which opens for approximately 10 seconds before closing again. The vehicle then crashes into some planters on the sidewalk before it starts to accelerate, causing smoke from the tires to engulf the car briefly.
The vehicle is then seen in the video driving away from the scene at a high rate of speed.
A husband and wife who identified themselves as the people who tried to stop the car told the courtroom that the driver’s head was slanted back as the car rolled into the intersection and they were worried he was suffering from a medical issue.
Court is expected to resume on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
