A truck driver who fatally struck a cyclist, then dumped the bike and continued through Le Plateau-Mont-Royal was sentenced to nine months in the commune on Monday for his fatal hit-and-run.
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• Also read: Cyclist fatally hit on the plateau: truck driver commits fatal hit and run
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• Also read: He rams a cyclist, throws the stuck bike over him and leaves the scene
Brandon Marchand-Bibeau, who will soon be celebrating his 27th birthday, is convicted by Judge Pierre Labelle in the Montreal courthouse and must submit to a variety of conditions.
It is said the accused was transporting large gravel to a construction site in Outremont County on September 27, 2021 when he crushed 31-year-old Andrea Rovere with his vehicle, which weighed more than fourteen tons, in the middle of the afternoon.
Andrea Rovere, the victim. Photo from LinkedIn
According to a clean-up expert, the bike got stuck under the truck, which continued 300 meters before the driver came to a stop.
Calmly
According to testimony in court, Marchand-Bibeau then got out of the vehicle to conduct a summary inspection.
The defendant then saw the bicycle twist under the wheels, but instead of wondering about it, he got rid of the bicycle.
“He casually threw the bike into the woods,” a witness to the scene remarked.
The victim’s bike was found badly damaged. Photo submitted as evidence
Note that the fatal collision was accidental, the investigation found. However, since Marchand-Bibeau never stopped, he was accused of a fatal hit-and-run.
Willful blindness
During his testimony in court, Marchand-Bibeau, represented by Me Franco Montesano, asserted that he was unaware that he had hit a cyclist.
“I was surprised to see the bike, I wondered where it came from. I looked and didn’t see anything, so I continued on my way when everything was fine,” he defended.
Defendant Brandon Marchand-Bibeau’s truck on the day of the tragedy. Photo submitted as evidence
Judge Pierre Labelle was not convinced and found him guilty of a fatal hit and run last January.
“It wasn’t a garbage can or a branch under the vehicle, but material that belonged to a human being,” he concluded.
The victim, Andrea Rovere, had left Italy in 2015 to start his PhD in Energy and Materials Sciences at the National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS). He then began postdoctoral research.
More details to come…
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