The police officer charged with reckless driving causing the death of a five-year-old boy took the stand in his defence at his trial on Monday.
Patrick Ouellet took less than an hour to give his side of the story as his trial entered its second week at the Longueuil courthouse. Ouellet is being tried before a judge alone.
On Feb. 13, 2014, Ouellet was assigned to tail someone while he was driving an unmarked vehicle when he struck a car making a left-hand turn. The car was being driven by the father of Nicholas Thorne-Belance.
The young boy died after he was taken to a hospital.
Quebec Court Judge Éric Simard heard a recording of a 911 call Ouellet made minutes after the collision. Near the end of the call, Ouellet could be heard saying: “It can’t be.”
His defence lawyer, Nadine Touma, asked him to explain the comment.
“It was like a nightmare,” Ouellet said. “It didn’t make sense in my eyes. The last thing I wanted was to be involved in an accident with two children injured.”
He was referring to how Nicholas’s sibling was injured in the crash.
Ouellet also said he believed he was driving at somewhere between 100 and 110 kilometres per hour. The area where the collision occurred was residential, and the speed limit was 50 kilometres per hour.
Last week, an expert witness estimated Ouellet’s car was travelling at 134 kilometres per hour when Ouellet hit the brakes, and his car hit the other one at 108 kilometres per hour.
Ouellet said the car Nicholas was in was 100 metres from his when he first spotted it.
“The only thing I know is that when I saw it, I braked. I know of the evidence presented in the trial. I can’t quantify it,” Ouellet said of the amount of time he had to react. He estimated it was less than two seconds.
“It was like the (other car) was frozen in the intersection.”
Ouellet will be cross-examined later Monday morning.