Pickup truck driver charged in fatal Alberta crash

A town in northern Alberta is mourning the deaths of four teens who police say were killed by an alleged hit-and-run impaired driver. Sean Amato reoprts.

CTV Edmonton: Charges laid in death of four teens

A 21-year-old Grande Prairie man has been charged after a tragic accident claimed the life of four teens early Saturday morning. Amanda Anderson reports.

Extended: Teens killed in Grand Prairie crash

Emergency officials arrive at the scene of a car crash in Grand Prairie, Alta. that took the lives of four teenaged boys.

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The crash site of fatal motor vehicle accident in Grand Prairie, Alta., is seen a day later after being cleaned up on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011.

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CTVNews.ca Staff

Date: Sun. Oct. 23 2011 10:25 PM ET

A 21-year-old man from Grande Prairie, Alta. faces impaired driving charges after leaving the scene of a highway collision that killed four teens on Saturday.

Police allege Brendan Holubowich was behind the wheel of a pickup truck that slammed into a car carrying five teens on Highway 668 near Highway 40.

Local RCMP said 16-year-olds Matthew Deller and Vincent Stover as well as 15-year-olds Walter Borden-Wilkens and Tanner Hildebrand died in the crash which happened just after midnight on Saturday.

Fifteen-year old Zak Judd, who was critically injured in the collision, remains in stable condition at an Edmonton-area hospital, Mounties said.

Holubowich faces 11 charges in relation to the fatal crash including four counts of impaired driving causing death.

While Holubowich awaits his first court appearance on Oct. 31, Grande Prairie residents are mourning the four lost teens.

"Friends and the people in the community have only good things to say about these young boys," said CTV Edmonton's Amanda Anderson.

All five of the teens were students at Grande Prairie Composite High School, where they were members of the Warriors football team.

"They were good students, great football players," said Anderson. "It's been really difficult on the community here."

With the tragedy still fresh, hundreds of community members held a candlelight vigil at a local football field to remember the young men.

"There were hundreds of people wearing black and orange -- the school colours -- there to support one another," said Anderson.

The vigil was held just after midnight on Sunday to coincide with the time of the crash, she added.

Grande Prairie Composite High School plans to have grief counsellors available to students at the school on Monday and throughout the week.

It is still unclear where the five boys were going or where they were coming from when the incident occurred.

Police said the 21-year-old driver of the pickup truck fled the scene of the crash but was arrested a short time later.

At Sunday's vigil, the principal of Grande Prairie Composite reportedly told the crowd to pray for the young man and avoid convicting him in the court of public opinion.

"They're asking the community and the students to refrain from speculation, to refrain from blame but to work rather as supporting one another," said Anderson.

The crash comes less than a week after four teens were killed in an automobile accident in the province's south.

Renzo Dainard, 16, Clay Card, 16, Danae Gough, 14 and Jorden Miller, 14, died when the vehicle they were riding in left the road and flipped into a creek early on Sunday, Oct. 16. The crash occurred near Magrath, about 240 kilometres southwest of Calgary.

Gord Card, father of Clay, said that he understands the pain that the families must be dealing with in Grande Prairie. Card said that he has met with some of the parents involved in the Magrath tragedy, and he expressed a desire to show support for those involved in this week's crash.

"We stand with them," he said in an email to CTV News, adding: "Our hearts and prayers go to all of them."

With files from The Canadian Press and CTV Edmonton's Simon Ostler

Comments are now closed for this story

CC
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Time to get to the root of the problem. Make alcohol illegal. Possesion of 5 beers gets 6 months minimum.

Randy
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Why is it we rarely if ever read a news story in which the drunk driver is killed and the innocent people survive?

pommiemommie
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I think that GDL licenses should continue with the time restriction. No driving after midnight.

Angry Wes
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Big surprise. A Drunk driver in Grande Prairie. The place is full of them. I'm amazed something like this hadn't happened sooner. Driving after midnight is like playing Russian roulette. Horrible loss.

Spiceman
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Such a sad story. This guy deserves life in prison. Was he at a bar prior, they too deserve to be punished. Too many people walk out of the bars into their vehicle. The continue to give them drinks when they are drunk. Maybe it is time to sue the distillers like the people do with tobacco companies.

Reggin Diputs
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Not that I condone drinking and driving, but I find it immensely hypocritical that so-called christians are calling for the young driver to burn in hell. Isn't that the exact opposite of what your saviour taught?

Regardless of how little time this kid gets, he's going to have a life of nightmares, knowing he killed 4 teens.

Greg
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It's too bad the governments new tough on crime doesn't do something about drunk drivers instead, they endorse alcohol while sending pot smokers to jail. We need a government that makes laws according to the crimes not their own ideologies.

R
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It looks to me like the kids were doing the right thing by trying to get back home before the Midnight deadline for GDL probationary drivers. But that's just an observation, have no idea why they were where they were and why.

Drunk Drivers Are Murderers
said
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If you choose to drink, do drugs, or become otherwise impaired and drive a vehicle resulting in death you should be considered a murderer and you should be tried, convicted, and sentenced as such!

Gundula Baehre
said
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The driver of the pick-up truck should be charged with four counts of voluntary manslaughter (and the fact that he fled the scene makes me wish for even more severe charges). If found guilty, he should be spending a long, long time behind bars and NEVER EVER be allowed to drive any kind of motorised vehicle again. In my mind, he is nothing but a cold blooded killer.

Sens/Habs Fan - Ottawa
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Having had a young nephew killed by a drunk driver while he was walking across in a crosswalk..leaving behind a young son of 18 months and a wife who only found out she was pregnant for the 2nd time..the one who killed Michael received 9 years in prison and was taken from this prison to another one where he was wanted for drug possession..obviously someone who is rotten all around...glad the Conservatives are finally doing something about some of our laws here in Canada that are far to lax...

Heather
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Greatest sympathies go out to the families of these young boys. *note: there are no time restrictions for driving with a gdl license, that is only with learners licenses. I hope they punish this drunk driver to the fullest extent of the law.

David in Calgary
said
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Its always scary, sad and frustrating to log onto www.ctv.ca on Saturday and Sunday mornings to see and read what all occured for total preventable chaos the nights before. EVERY WEEKEND SOMETHING HAPPENS! These types of tragic occurances are NOT accidents! They are not human or tech errors! They are the results of down-right stupidity, bad choices, no regard for anyone else and a complete lack of moral character. When will young people these days get it? How many lives need to be lost for people to get through their thick heads that drinking and driving is deadly??? Many many years ago when I was a young adult I tried to understand why people pull this crap, I am now 66, I still haven't figured it out and I probably never will... To the families of the victims of this 100% preventable mess, I am truly sorry for your losses and I pray that justice is served for you...

maplejuner
said
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So the legal drivers have to stay off the road so that the drunks can have it at night....I understand your logic as a parent, but what we need are harsher penalties for the violators period! The people we vote in is where we start.

Mark - Calgary
said
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Drunk drivers that kill only get a few years at most. As Bob pointed out, the drunk driver from Cochrane got less than a year in prison for each person he killed. An innocent life is worth nothing according to our court system and the judges themselves. Yet bleeding hearts cry for the criminals instead of the victims. It's pathetic!

Don
said
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Well, you can't undo any of this and a very unfortunate. Let's try to get a tough judge and start to get serious about these idiot of drunk drivers. Give this guy the death penalty and situations like these will end. If a drunk driver knows the penalty is death, then they will not drive unless they are really stupid. Only way to end this nonsense and valuable lives, is to kill person that did it. This may sound harsh, but it has to be to get this point across. As usual, the drunk driver lives and the innocent dies... what a shame for the families and a terrible shame for the judge that lets this drunk idiot off!!!

evelyn
said
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It is so heart-rending to hear of such an avoidable incident. To have young, promising lives snuffed out, to have to bear the grief, to question "why" over and over and over, to have all this caused by one drunken idiot is unbelievable. To the families and friends suffering such a devastating loss, I pray you will have the strength to somehow cope with the sadness. To the justice system, I pray the presiding judge will have the courage to send the drunken driver to prison for a very long time. There is never an excuse for anyone to be driving under the influence of alcohol, or drugs, or anything else which causes you to not be in complete and clear headed control of your vehicle. Accidents are accidents; plowing into a vehicle full of students is not an accident. What do you think the chances are that the driver will claim "he doesn't remember"? I truly hope he does remember, and has the nightmares to constantly remind him.

Bob,Calgary,Alberta
said
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Here in Calgary the individual who drove a cement truck killing several people including a baby has spent only a couple of years in jail and now has day pass privileges. It seems our judges are either too soft or too stupid to realize the immense harm done to so many by drivers under the influence of alcohol. Driving under the influence is a senseless crime but we still refuse to impose the proper penalties on such individuals. This is the legacy of so many years under the influence of Liberals who are so caring about the rights of the accused but souncaring about the innocent victims of crime.

Clifford
said
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My family sends our condolences out to the families. We have two children who go to school at the comp, they know who these boys are and are anguished and pained for their loss.
It was reported recently in the news that our new premier was talking to the BC premier about their strict new practices for drinking and driving. One of our MLA's then made a reference about that we should not go that direction, because it would affect peoples livelihoods. So how much money they make and their standard of living is more important than peoples lives.
My opinion has always differed, many people do not like me because my acceptable level of drinking and driving is ZERO. When as a society that is so called civilized are we going to abolish drinking and driving. Put the needs of the innocent above the selfish.

Al
said
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@Curtis Under the GDL rules they could have legally been driving. Here are the rules for a probationary driver.To become a probationary (class 5) driver you must: Be 16 years of age or older Pass the standard Alberta road testProbationary Conditions Must spend a minimum of two years as a Probationary Driver No more passengers than seat belts Fewer demerit points are allowed than for fully licensed drivers before licence suspension Must have a zero alcohol level No upgrading to a commercial licence Cannot serve as an accompanying driver to a Learner.There is nothing there that would have prohibited a probationary driver in this case. Let's place the blame where it clearly belongs, on the shoulders of Brendan Holubowich.

Stewie
said
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It's sad because we do have a way of avoiding this but people are too selfish. Evey time I mention the cure for this problem I get lots of thumbs down. But mandatory breath analyst machines in all vehicles would stop the impaired driving. There's not a drug on the planet that causes as much destruction as alcohol. The studies I've read say chronic users of pot don't reach the .05 impairment of alcohol but society keeps putting alcohol above all the other drugs that cause less harm. Sad.

Michael
said
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the principal of Grande Prairie Composite reportedly told the crowd to pray for the young man...

Are you serious? There's not a prayer in hell to help this guy, where he'll end up for a long time. No excuse...behind the wheel and alcohol don't mix.

Of course, the way the legal system is in Canada, he'll probably be let out after a couple of years...that's it.

A very sad story indeed...my sincere condolences to the Families and friends of the victims.

RIP

Cam in Grande Prairie
said
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My condolences go out to all the families of the four boys killed in this tragic accident. I am a longtime resident that happens to be out and about all weekdays as part of my job... driving the treacherous streets of Grande Prairie. What I see on a daily basis is "Very Disturbing"... in the past week alone I have witnessed two near rollovers close to a popular coffee place on highway 40... the day before one of those incidents I was almost T boned at highway 40 and 84 ave making a left turn at 750 am. The pickup had no marker light or head lights on whatsover and it was pitch dark out... a very close call for me... I layed on my horn and hit the gas to avoid a total wreck! And yes, I have done my part.. We witnessed a severe stunting incident.. called police.. followed the guy.. he was charged and ended up paying the $400 fine after we appeared as witnesses twice. The streets and roads are deadly around this city... more has to be done to change peoples attitudes and driving habits or more accidents like this will happen.. It is so tragic when 4 young lives end because of carelessness, poor attitude or drinking and driving... it is just unacceptable... and more has to be done to stop it!

Merv
said
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We will NEVER get rid of drunk drivers, unless the time fits the crime. This makes me PUKE in disgust.

Christine
said
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Heartbreaking :(. Rest in Peace young boys, and may your families somehow find some comfort.

Kim in Winnipeg
said
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How sad that with all the information and campaigns against drinking and driving that many people still do it . My heart goes out to the families and friends of the young men that were killed and the one in the hospital , my heart also goes out to the family of the young man driving drunk . What a terrible and preventable crime .

Curtis
said
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According to GDL laws in Alberta those kids should not have been on the road. I drive the roads around Grande Prairie for work in the oil patch and with all the truck traffic and tired/drunk oil workers it is absolutely not safe driving, especially for inexperienced drivers. Parents take care of your kids, don't let them drive at night!

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