Thunder Bay Police say the girlfriend of a man charged in an early Sunday morning hit-and-run fatality is the person who turned him in.
Police charged 25-year-old Christian Emhir Hernandez with two counts of impaired driving and one of failing to remain at the scene of an accident.
Richard Garson Carmichael, 45, was pronounced dead at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre after he was struck by a vehicle, allegedly driven by Hernandez, in the 100 block of High Street North in the city’s north end.
“(The girlfriend) was following Mr. Hernandez at the time,” Adams said. “She called police and was present at the Shuniah Street residence with Hernandez when police arrived to investigate.
Hernandez was taken into custody about 20 minutes after police and paramedics arrived at the accident scene.
Traffic Sgt. Glenn Porter said there was little more police could say because of the ongoing nature of the investigation.
“The driver of the vehicle was impaired. We’re still determining some of the small details, talking to witnesses and looking for other evidence,” Porter said.
“The important thing to remember is that this is getting very close to Christmas, within a week, and there’s a family that’s going to be mourning the loss of a dear one.”
A friend, who asked not to be named, described Carmichael as a well-spoken, meticulous individual, who graduated from Hillcrest High School in the mid-'80s before going to work at a local mill. The former Balsam Street resident was also musically inclined and a member of several local bands over the years.
The son of Thomas and Gloria Carmichael, he was predeceased by his father in 2001 and brothers Craig in 1994 and Thomas, who died in 1998.
Porter called it a preventable death, but unfortunately it’s not a rare occurrence during the holiday season in Thunder Bay, adding the city usually averages one vehicle-related fatality a year where alcohol is a contributing factor. Ontario-wide, drunk driving accounts for about 25 per cent of all deaths on the province’s roads.
But despite daily festive RIDE programs run in conjunction with the OPP and Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, and increased penalties and power for police to temporarily suspend driving privileges for anyone caught driving with a blood-alcohol content between 0.05 and the legal limit of 0.08 per cent, and the power to impound the vehicles of those drivers, not everyone gets the message, Porter said.
“I think that for the most part most drivers are starting to understand the impact new laws are having when they’re found drinking and driving. It’s a preventable crime. This is a big part of what this is all about,” he said.
“Simply don’t drink and drive. It’s a tragedy that’s so easily prevented. In speaking with the people over at Operation Red Nose, they tell us their numbers are up from last year. We’ve seen a lot of people welcoming that service, and it’s an easy alternative. It takes away one of the easy excuses that we hear. ‘I can’t get a ride.’”
The name of the victim was initially withheld and placed under a publication ban to give authorities time to notify next-of-kin. The ban was lifted on Monday morning.
