A pickup truck and SUV sit in a ditch after a crash on McDowell Rd. West in North Walsingham, July 25, 2018. Photo courtesy of Norfolk OPP.A pickup truck and SUV sit in a ditch after a crash on McDowell Rd. West in North Walsingham, July 25, 2018. Photo courtesy of Norfolk OPP.
London

Charges laid in crash that killed husband and wife

A Norfolk County man is now facing charges in connection with a crash southeast of Tillsonburg that claimed the lives of a husband and wife.

Norfolk Ontario Provincial Police announced on Thursday that 23-year-old John P. Driedger has been arrested and charged with two counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, following the fatal two-vehicle crash on July 25, 2018.

Police said a pickup truck collided with an SUV on McDowell Road West in North Walsingham at around 7:39 p.m. Investigators determined the eastbound SUV was attempting to turn left into the driveway of a home when it was hit by an eastbound pickup that was trying to pass. The force of the collision sent both vehicles into the ditch.

The driver of the SUV, 25-year-old Maria Klassen of Norfolk County, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her passenger, 26-year-old Abram Enns Klassen of Norfolk County, was airlifted to a Hamilton hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Driedger, who was driving the pickup, was treated in hospital for minor injuries.

The accused is scheduled to appear in court in Simcoe at a later date.

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