Man accused in Ottawa crossing guard’s death takes the stand at trial

The man accused of dangerous driving in the crash that killed an Ottawa crossing guard took the stand in his own defence. CTV’s Katie Griffin reports.

The man accused of dangerous driving in the hit-and-run crash that killed a Barrhaven crossing guard in March took the stand in his own defence on Thursday.

Xzander Wright, 19, testified he didn’t see Peter Clark when he struck him at the intersection of Cedarview Road and Kennevale Drive on the morning of March 23.

Wright testified he did a rolling stop, looked right and saw a family that to him had “no intention” of crossing the street and looked left.

“I did not see anything, so I proceeded,” Wright said.

Wright testified he then felt a light tap and saw a hand-held stop sign on the hood of the truck before feeling two bumps on the right-hand side rolling over something.

Wright kept driving and said he only knew he’d hit someone, “when I looked in the rearview mirror.” He then made a U-turn and briefly returned to the scene.

“I walked up closer from the vehicle and seen there was someone laying on the ground and there was blood,” Wright testified.

Wright has pleaded not guilty to dangerous operation causing death.

Wright pleaded guilty in April to failing to stop after an accident. He’ll be sentenced for that at the conclusion of this trial.

He testified he saw other people rendering aid to Clark and calling 911.

When asked by his lawyer Lawrence Greenspon why he himself didn’t offer assistance or provide his information, Wright said he “didn’t know what to do. I was scared.”

Wright was cross-examined by assistant Crown attorney Julian Daller.

“You know about the rules of the road, you know about speed limits, you know about traffic signals, and you know about stop signs,” Daller put to Wright, who agreed.

“You wait for them to cross before you go, correct?”

“Yes,” Wright replied.

Members of Clark’s family sat in the gallery as they have for the duration of the trial. His wife left the courtroom when video of the collision was played in court.

Daller focused on the position of Wright’s head as he proceeded through the intersection, suggesting Wright was pressing the gas and advancing as he was still looking down.

Wright admitted he was distracted by his vape that had fallen into his lap and was also looking at the ground or floor mat of the vehicle.

“(there was) no obstruction between you and he,” Daller said.

“I don’t know,” replied Wright.

“Because you weren’t looking at the time or what?” Daller responded.

“I don’t remember,” Wright said. “I don’t remember seeing him. I don’t remember if there was any obstruction.”

“You don’t know whether you saw him or not,” Daller pressed.

“No, I didn’t see him,” Write replied.

Wright accepted Daller’s suggestion that advancing without looking forward is “a dangerous thing to do.”

After Wright testified he saw the hand-held stop sign and felt the bumps, Daller asked, “Is that not a signal to you something horribly wrong has happened? You didn’t think to stop, look around and figure it out?”

“Not in the moment,” Wright replied.

On Wednesday, the defence raised the possibility of the sun obstructing Wright’s view.

“So, you’re complaining about the sun, but you didn’t take any measures to mitigate that,” Daller said and Wright agreed. “Sun plays absolutely no role if you’re looking down or to the side instead of forward.”

Daller said Wright could’ve used the sun visor or put up the window that was tinted to six per cent to significantly block light from coming in.

Wright said his window was down for about an hour that morning while he drove his brother to work in Arnprior for “the breeze.”

“Just doing it for comfort when it’s -5 C on the highway,” Daller put to Wright, who replied, “yes.”

Wright testified the day of the crash was only the second time he’d driven the truck, which is owned by his mom.

The Crown provided evidence of Wright’s phone pairing with the truck several times before the crash but he said his mom was driving and his phone only paired because he was using it to play music.

“He did his best to go back over what was a very quick but tragic accident that happened,” Greenspon said outside of court after Wright’s testimony. “There should be no question that if he could go back and see Mr. Clark and avoid the collision that happened, he would have done so.”

Closing arguments are set for next week.

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