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Ex-Ontario AG Bryant questioned in death of cyclist

Edward

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Ex-Ontario AG Bryant arrested

http://thestar.ca/news/gta/article/689220

Sep 01, 2009 07:21 AM
HENRY STANCU, ROBYN DOOLITTLE, JOHN RIETI
STAFF REPORTERS
Former Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant has been arrested after a cyclist was killed last night while hanging on to a fleeing car, police sources say.

The crash occurred on Bloor St. near Bay St. around 9:45 p.m. when witnesses said a male cyclist in his 20s collided with a black Saab.

Witnesses said the cyclist hung onto the driver's side of the car, which had its convertible top down, while the driver allegedly yelled at him to get off.

The vehicle then veered onto the eastbound lanes and mounted the curb, brushing against trees and poles, witnesses said.

"He was driving on the wrong side of the street and up on the curb trying to knock him off the car for about 100 metres," said Ryan Brazeau, a worker with a crew laying sewer pipes on Bloor.

"Lots of people were watching and they couldn't believe what was happening."

As the car approached Avenue Rd., the cyclist fell off and he and his bike were dragged before being run over by the rear wheels, witnesses said.

The Toronto cyclist was taken to St. Michael's Hospital with severe head injuries and died around midnight, police said.

A suspect was arrested after the vehicle was seen pulling into the Park Hyatt hotel on Avenue.

Homicide detectives assisted Traffic Services with the investigation, which closed both lanes of Bloor St. W. between Bay and Avenue for most of the night.

Police say charges are pending. Police are also questionsiong a female passenger who was in the convertible at the time.

Bryant was first elected MPP for St. Paul's in 1999 and won re-election in 2003 and 2007. He was awarded Now Magazine's Best Toronto MPP for 2008.

He was Ontario's youngest-ever attorney general, serving throughout the McGuinty government's first four-year term as its Chief Legal Officer.

Bryant legalized paralegals, fixed election dates, banned pit bulls, overhauled the human rights system, re-created the Law Reform Commission, re-established civilian oversight of police and depoliticized Justice of the Peace appointments.

Bryant, who also served as Aboriginal Affairs Minister, stepped down as Ontario's economic development minister in May to become president and CEO of the new Invest Toronto corporation chaired by Mayor David Miller.
 
No kidding. I guess he's not going to be premier, then!
 
Wow. That's just.... Wow.

Was he not just hired to run a City of Toronto agency?

EDIT: Per wikipedia he was to takeover the new Invest Toronto corporation.
Gotta love how his article already has notes about his arrest and mentions "While Attorney General he helped create Ontario's controvertial Stunt Driving law."
 
Sounds like Bryant was attacked by some hot headed biker. I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions here…
 
I'm not jumping to any conclusions, either.

Keep in mind that the stupid cyclist (note, both cyclists AND drivers can be stupid) held on for 100 feet and had a war of words while hanging off the passenger-side door. Obviously distracted, it would be natural for a driver to swerve from side to side trying to get him off.

Secondly, what constitutes a hit and run? I heard that he pulled up at the Park Hyatt (just around the corner) and called the police immediately. At a congested intersection, is driving 40 feet away from the scene considered unlawful?
 
I'm not jumping to any conclusions, either.

Keep in mind that the stupid cyclist (note, both cyclists AND drivers can be stupid) held on for 100 feet and had a war of words while hanging off the passenger-side door. Obviously distracted, it would be natural for a driver to swerve from side to side trying to get him off.

Secondly, what constitutes a hit and run? I heard that he pulled up at the Park Hyatt (just around the corner) and called the police immediately. At a congested intersection, is driving 40 feet away from the scene considered unlawful?

When you run over top of someone and kill them, you don't worry about the intersection congestion. All that being said, I'm not going to trust any witness testamony quoted in The Star for accuracy at this point, (though he did say 100 metres, not feet).

This one is going to take a long time to play out.
 
None of us should jump to conclusions.....but the questions I would have relate to the original collision.

According to the article "witnesses said a male cyclist in his 20s collided with a black Saab. Witnesses said the cyclist hung onto the driver's side of the car, which had its convertible top down, while the driver allegedly yelled at him to get off."

So:

a) What happened at the original collision and
b) Was the driver going to stop at that point or did the cyclist hang on in some (crazy, yes) attempt to get him to stop.

If he was not going to stop, and everything that ocurred after was a result of that.......
 
Police are also reportedly questioning a female passenger who was in the convertible at the time.

^ For the record, Bryant is married....
 
There will be no shortage of witnesses, that's for sure.

As far as Bryant, I have a colleague who hobnobs with the GTA Grit establishment and he tells me that Bryant's temper and flare ups at Queens Park rivaled that of George Smitherman.
 
Police are also reportedly questioning a female passenger who was in the convertible at the time.

^ For the record, Bryant is married....

So am I....and, regularly, I am out in the evenings at various business meetings, corporate social events and company gatherings with women who are not my wife...co-incidentaly, I also drive a convertible.....my wife and I chuckle every time someone casually mentions to her that they "met me the other night with 'X'"......who Mr. Bryant was with last night is the least of his worries and the least interesting part of this story....to me.
 
(a) What happened at the original collision and
(b) Was the driver going to stop at that point or did the cyclist hang on in some (crazy, yes) attempt to get him to stop.

This is what I’ve pieced together so far: there was the initial collision, the vehicle stopped, the cyclist proceeded to grab Bryant, the vehicle then drove off with the cyclist hanging on, when he fell off Bryant pulled into the Hyatt and his passenger called 911.

I wouldn’t call this a typical “hit and runâ€.
 

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