Martin C. Barry, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Three Laval residents, including a baby, were reported dead, with a child seriously injured, following a Remembrance Day weekend collision on Ontario’s Highway 401 near Quinte West east of Belleville.
According to the Ontario Provincial Police, OPP officers, paramedics and firefighters responded to the scene of the crash in the westbound lanes of one of Canada’s busiest highways at approximately 1:15 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 10.
The OPP said a 25-year-old male and a 22-year-old female died on the scene, while an eight-month-old child was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
According to the police, a four-year-old child was evacuated by an air ambulance to a hospital in Toronto with serious injuries. The OPP said the crash happened when a minivan collided into the rear of a tractor trailer, whose driver wasn’t injured.
Although the police said all the victims were from Laval, they were not immediately identified, pending notification of next-of-kin. An accident investigation, led by the OPP and with the Office of Ontario’s Chief Coroner, has been launched.
70-year-old man arrested following attack on two women in Laval
A 70-year-old male suspect was arrested on Nov. 7 after he allegedly attacked two women residing at at a mobile home on Dagenais Blvd. in Laval.
The Laval Police said they received a call around 9 p.m. reporting a fight that had broken out between a man and two females at the home in the city’s Laval-Ouest district.
An LPD spokesperson said when the LPD arrived on the scene, they found two victims who had been stabbed and sustained minor injuries. However, neither of the two women needed to be taken to hospital.
The suspect, who is known to police, appeared in court the following morning and was charged with breaking and entering, armed assault and uttering threats. At the time, police did not reveal the connection between the three people.
Several media in Montreal later identified the suspect as Burt Laird Crawford, age 70. According to those reports, he faces 12 charges, including forced entry while armed with an axe. The media identified one of the women as his ex-spouse or partner.
The reports also stated that he had serious previous convictions, and was being sought by law enforcement officials to face charges in Ontario related to alleged disturbances and violence-related offences in September.
Arrests made in Laval for child exploitation and pornography
The Sûreté du Québec says four days of raids conducted in various areas of the province in recent weeks targeting the distribution and possession of child pornography resulted in 17 arrests – including some in Laval.
The SQ, in collaboration with the Laval Police Dept., as well as police in Montreal, Longueuil, Quebec City and Gatineau, executed more than 20 warrants from November 4 to 7 in an operation involving more than 200 police and civilian operatives.
In all, 17 men between the ages of 38 and 80 were placed under arrest and taken into custody. They appeared in court to face charges of possession, distribution and accessing child pornography. The public is urged to report any incident of sexual exploitation of children to cybertip.ca.
Recent Laval Fires:
The Association des pompiers de Laval (APL) reports that a fire in Chomedey on Nov. 12 that was apparently caused by an electric short left a family temporarily homeless.
The blaze in the two-storey multiplex broke out around 4:45 pm on 66th Ave. near Saint Norbert Park.
Fire department investigators later uncovered the source of the outbreak: wiring for a ceiling lighting unit.
Damages were estimated at $50,000 for the building, with a further $15,000 for interior furnishings.