05-02-2012, 01:01 PM
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Too lazy to set a custom title
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Ottawa
Posts: 19,631
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Quote:
MONTREAL ? Details are emerging of the events that allegedly led to a Montreal taxi driver running someone over in videos that have caused a stir on the Internet.
According to police, the cabbie had already tried mowing down the victim before the cameras started rolling.
That?s one allegation made today at a bail hearing for Montreal taxi driver Guercy Edmond. He faces four charges following a gruesome scene that was videotaped and posted online.
A Montreal police investigator, Det.-Sgt. Frederic Gagne, has told the bail hearing that the videos tell only the second part of the story.
Witnesses told police that an altercation over a fare turned hostile and that the accused tried running over his victim, Benoit Kapelli, slamming into a lamp post in the process.
The police officer says Edmond told authories he simply lost control of his car. That initial incident allegedly caused damage to the car and was just one step in an escalating confrontation.
The alleged hit-and-run, which occurred at almost 4 a.m., was preceded by a dispute in the cab over a fare, amid heavy traffic with three passengers who were intoxicated, according to Edmond?s testimony to police.
According to that testimony, the issue of race came up during the dispute. There was allegedly a verbal exchange during the ride about rituals like voodoo and female genital mutilation.
Edmond is Haitian. The three passengers were white.
The dispute was apparently also over whether the fare was $9 ? as claimed by Edmond ? or $5, as claimed by a trio of passengers.
During the argument, Edmond claims he was struck by Kapelli inside the cab. Later, before eyewitnesses began filming, Edmond is alleged to have tossed a bottle at the passengers.
Edmond is charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, hit-and-run and dangerous driving.
The diminutive cabbie, who rents his vehicle and has been driving for eight years, doesn?t usually drive downtown and is based at the airport.
Gagne testified Wednesday that Edmond told him he was seeking a few additional fares that night so he headed downtown.
Scores of fellow cab drivers who support Edmond have gathered outside the courthouse this morning.
They pushed and jostled for place in a courtroom to be able to hear the case. An overflow room had to be opened for the large group.
They have blocked the street in front of the courthouse, honking their horns in support of his cause. They are calling for him to be released on bail.
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http://thechronicleherald.ca/canada/...er-hit-and-run
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