Article content
The United States has requested the extradition of a truck driver from Valleyfield who faces criminal charges related to a fatal collision that took place on a highway in New York and resulted in the deaths of three people, including a 10-year-old boy and his 14-year-old sister.
The request was filed at the Montreal courthouse and the truck driver, Luc Leblanc, was recently granted a release while the case is pending.
Article content
He was granted the release following a Quebec Superior Court hearing held on Aug. 25, after agreeing to deposit $5,000 and to follow a series of conditions, including that he reside at his current address in Valleyfield and not possess any documents that would allow him to cross a border while the extradition request is being heard in Montreal. Two people who know Leblanc also agreed to post $15,000 worth of bonds to secure his release.
His case is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 6.
According to a statement by the New York State Police in 2020, the collision occurred on Aug. 2, 2020, after 8 p.m. on Interstate 87 in Ulster, New York, a town 450 kilometres south of Montreal. Leblanc was operating “a 2010 Volvo tractor trailer, in the right lane when he encountered traffic stopped in front of him.
“Leblanc attempted to avoid the collision but ultimately struck the rear of a 2012 Honda Accord. The front of the tractor trailer caused extensive damage to the rear passenger compartment upon contact and continued to push the Honda approximately 500 feet before coming to rest in the grass off the western shoulder of the highway.”
Article content
Three people seated at the back of the Honda — 10-year-old Justin Gayapersad, his 14-year-old sister Chelsea Gayapersad and 47-year-old Zulika Salim, a member of the same family from Bronx, N.Y. — were pronounced deceased at the scene. Two other people seated in the front seats of the Accord were taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries.
Leblanc’s truck also struck a 2007 Kia Sedona minivan. The five occupants of the minivan, including a five-year-old child, were related to the occupants of the Honda Accord. Three of the people in the minivan had to be taken to a hospital but the five-year-old child was not injured.
Leblanc was not injured in the crash.
A day after the collision, a cousin of the two young victims who were killed posted a message on Facebook saying: “This is so hard to accept, small loving family and three beautiful souls.”
pcherry@postmedia.com
