A 23-year-old suspect is in custody after a fatal crash that saw a hijacked taxicab crash into two other vehicles after possibly running through a red light.
Investigators say the suspect pushed the cab driver out of a Co-op taxi after a fare dispute and then crashed the vehicle into a pickup truck at the intersection of Royal York Road and Lawrence Avenue, just after 8 a.m. on Monday. The truck then struck a sports utility vehicle.
"There was a lady in an SUV, she was screaming, she had blood all over her, and there was other people attending to her so I went to the cab driver – who I thought was the cab driver – I asked him if he was alright, he was hopping out of the window, he said he was fine," an eyewitness told CTV Toronto.
Police said the cab, a Toyota Camry, hit a traffic light pole at the intersection.
The suspect fled the scene, but police arrested him nearby.
A man in his 60s who was driving the Ford Escape SUV was rushed to hospital, where he died of his injuries, traffic services Const. Cling Stibbe told CP24.
His 39-year-old daughter also in the vehicle is in critical but stable condition.
Two other men, including the cab driver, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The incident started 90 minutes prior to the crash after the taxi driver picked up the suspect at a downtown bus terminal at Bay Street and Dundas Street West, CTV Toronto has learned.
The suspect told the driver to take him to Martin Grove and Albion Road. He then changed his mind, and told the driver to head to Weston Road.
Shortly after, an argument between the suspect and the driver started. The driver pulled over and asked the suspect to exit the cab, at which point the passenger allegedly threatened the driver with a weapon.
"This individual pretended that he was reaching for something… and the driver backed off at the time," Abdulkadri Mohamoud of Co-op cabs said. "(The driver) feared for his life."
According to Mohamoud, the driver of the taxi cab exited the vehicle before it was hijacked. He flagged down another taxi cab that was nearby and called police. Minutes later, the crash happened, temporarily closing the intersection of Royal York Road and Lawrence Avenue.
Police say they are investigating whether the taxi went through a red light just before the collision.
The suspect is scheduled to make his first court appearance Tuesday morning.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-1900 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
With a report from CTV Toronto's John Mussleman and files from CP24
