“I hit a pedestrian in the crosswalk; I can’t find them. Someone else hit them after.”
Those were among the first words spoken by Paul Oliver Wong after he hit a pedestrian in his Dodge Dakota on Jan. 17, 2018.
The recording of Wong’s 911 call that morning was played in his and co-accused Kai Man Cheu’s trial to determine whether either is criminally responsible for the death of 15-year-old Brazilian exchange student Fernanda Girotto.
The girl and her sister had been living with a family at a complex near Cariboo Road for a couple of weeks when she was struck and killed by two vehicles in a crosswalk.
Girotto was reportedly in the crosswalk – now an intersection controlled by traffic lights – at the foot of Cariboo Road when she was hit.
After she was hit by Wong’s car, at around 6 a.m., the driver called 911. In the call, Wong is heard telling the operator he hit a pedestrian, but when asked whether she was breathing, he said he couldn’t find her.
That was because she had been struck by another vehicle, operated by Cheu, and was pinned underneath it dozens of metres away.
After asking another person where Girotto was, Wong is heard in the recording saying, “F***, she’s under the car.”
Pressed by the 911 operator, Wong said the girl was breathing but bleeding “a lot” from the head.
He was unable to tell the operator whether she was bleeding in other areas, as she was under the car.
Wong was told by the 911 operator not to move Girotto unless she was in danger and to stay with her until emergency crews arrived.
Wong is heard saying “help is on the way” in the call, but it’s unclear whom he was speaking to.
Also heard in the courtroom Thursday morning were a pair of Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service officers.
The first, Cpl. David Noon, went through photos and videos he took from the scene. That included a pair of GoPro videos Noon took driving through the intersection at around the same time of day as the fatal crash.
In the video, a crosswalk is clearly visible, lit by a nearby streetlight, along with the signs identifying the crosswalk. But in cross-examination from Wong’s defence lawyer, David Fai, Noon acknowledged that the rain may reduce that visibility.
He added, also under cross-examination from Fai, he did not see any reflective items among Girotto’s clothing.
The court also heard from Cpl. Rick Neger, who took data from the internal computers in Cheu’s cars. That data showed the brake was applied roughly three seconds before the crash for about a second and that about 1.5 seconds before the crash, Cheu’s Toyota Camry slowed down from 54 km/h to 48 km/h.
Just as Cheu hit Girotto, the car slowed by another 0.6 km/h, which Neger said was consistent with hitting a pedestrian, a pothole or a curb.
Thursday afternoon, the court is set to hear from a City of Burnaby engineer, who will testify on the city installing the pedestrian crosswalk at that intersection. The engineer will further testify on the city’s installation of traffic control lights shortly after the incident.
Crown prosecutor Geordie Proulx said he didn’t expect closing statements to come on Thursday, but said it depends largely on defence. It’s not clear yet whether defence will call any evidence.
