Witness to deadly pileup says driver claimed he 'must have fallen asleep' before crash
A St. John's court has heard how a stolen ATV falling out of a pickup triggered a tragic chain of events that led to a double fatality on the Trans-Canada Highway almost two years ago.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Const. Scott Thistle outlined those details on Wednesday morning at the trial of Kyle Follett of Clarke's Beach.
Follett is charged with driving without due care and attention, an offence under the Highway Traffic Act, in connection to a fatal crash near Butter Pot Park in April, 2016.
He was driving a five-tonne truck that struck the back of a Rav4, killing two passengers in an SUV.
Randy Ralph, 52, died at the scene. Shannon Pittman, 40, died in hospital the next day.
Court was told that the SUV had stopped, along with other vehicles, because of the initial accident.
Family members of the two victims wept in court as Thistle recounted what happened on that stretch of highway.
The 1st accident
Const. Thistle told the court that on the day of the crash, an officer was responding to a report of a truck in the median just east of the Butter Pot Park turnoff, when a second call came in about another crash.
Thistle said the sequence of events started when Felicia Pynn, sister of convicted killer Philip Pynn, and Lee Campbell took a Dodge Ram pickup from a dealership out for a test drive.
The 32-year veteran of the force told provincial court Judge Colin Flynn that the two were involved in a break-in at a cabin in Deer Park where a large screen TV, an ATV and four helmets were loaded in the truck.
Thistle said Campbell was driving at speeds of up to 170 km/h heading back to St. John's.
The truck left the road, ending up in the centre median, and the stolen ATV bounced out.
Within minutes, Thistle said, other motorists stopped to help.
That's when the Rav4 came upon the accident scene. The small SUV was then struck from behind by Follett's truck.
The driver of the SUV, Dwayne Dalton, suffered serious injuries but survived.
Follett told witness 'he must have fell asleep'
On Wednesday afternoon, several witnesses who stopped after noticing the first crash involving the ATV testified in court.
Jeremy Tuck and Zach Quilty stopped on the TCH after they witnessed the Dodge Ram in the median and said their vehicle was also hit by Follett's truck.
"All I heard was a crash and then the impact, I don't recall hearing any rubber or brakes or anything," said Quilty.
Tuck told the court he spoke to Follett at the scene, and that he said to him "I must have fallen asleep."
Felicia Pynn, who was in the Dodge Ram truck, was subpoenaed to be in court Wednesday but didn't show up.
Police said she never spoke to the RCMP formally following the incident.
Eleven days have been set aside for the trial and more than 20 witnesses are expected to testify.
