Ontario firefighter faces dangerous driving charges

By Greg Mercer
The Record

WILMOT TWP., Ontario — A young New Dundee man has learned the courts will decide if he is to be punished for his role in a crash last month that took the life of a 53-year-old neighbour.

Justin Szucz, a 23-year-old volunteer firefighter, has been charged with dangerous driving and criminal negligence causing death after he struck and killed Thomas Walker with his car on Sept. 2.

Szucz was rushing to the scene of a single-vehicle crash near Walker's home. Walker was already on scene offering help to a 19-year-old Kitchener man hurt in the crash.

As Walker's wife watched, Szucz's car crested a hill on Huron Road and hit Walker, throwing him into the air. He died shortly afterward.

For two New Dundee families who live only a few kilometres apart, the past month has been a painful blur.

Szucz has been "cut deep" by the accident, according to his father Dave Szucz — taking counselling and a leave of absence from firefighting.

For Linda Barton, Walker's widow, there was no joy in learning about the charges.

"I felt immediately following the accident that no one meant for this to happen," she said. "I believe people all went out there to help, and some things went wrong that morning. A bad accident happened. To get myself through this, I made a decision to leave this in the hands of people that know more. I leave the rest to the police."

Barton said she is instead focused on supporting her two sons, who are 20 and 21. She's been heartened by support from neighbours, Barton said.

But it's become more difficult to deal with her husband's death as time passes, she said.

She thinks the accident will weigh on the people at the accident scene "a long, long time."

Szucz's father, meanwhile, said the charges came as a shock. His son was sent reeling when informed of the decision.

"We're hurting," Dave Szucz said. "There are people hurting on both sides of this ...

"But with this, it all came back again. It's hard to swallow."

Today, father and son will meet with a lawyer, a new and unfamiliar situation for the family.

"You wouldn't want a better kid than that in your life, and something like that happens to a kid going to help," Dave Szucz said. "It's just sad for both parties."

At the Wilmot Township fire hall, the volunteer staff are struggling to understand "the day you wished you'd never seen happen," Chief John Ritz said.

"We've never had anything like this happen in our history. We're normally the people who are fixing problems ... (we're not used to) getting into this kind of situation. The full reason for the fire department's existence is to help people."

In his 22 months as a volunteer, Szucz had a flawless record, the chief said.

Still, Ritz said the police have a duty to "do their job."

"There's obviously been a terrible tragedy here, and a man has lost his life. I'd be very surprised if there had been no charges laid."

Typically, firefighters head to the station on an emergency call and join an outgoing fire truck. Occasionally, however, volunteers head directly to the scene, as Szucz did, when they are close by.

Police say the unusual choice of laying the criminal negligence charge came after consulting with the Crown attorney's office and a lengthy investigation that involved re-creating the fatal crash, Insp. Bryan Larkin said.

In the month since the crash, police also considered any mechanical problems with Szucz's Grand Prix, plus weather, lighting and road conditions, Larkin said.

Criminal negligence, the more serious of the two charges facing Szucz, suggests "a wanton and reckless disregard for public safety," said Sgt. Scott Richardson of the traffic branch.

Unlike police, volunteer firefighters aren't trained — or legally allowed — to exceed the speed limit when responding to an emergency, Larkin said.