On Tuesday (February 1) the trial of the Calgary youth charged with the first-degree murder of Calgary Police officer Sgt. Andrew Harnett had two witnesses.
Hardeep Dhaliwal, a bus driver for the City of Calgary, was working the night of December 31st, 2020 on Falconridge Drive.
“I noticed a couple of traffic stops. One of the traffic stops was in the parking lot of the Petro Canada by the carwash," Dhaliwal continued on, “So I looked over and I started to see one of the vehicles the police stopped moving and the police officer was kind of struggling on the driver's side. ”
Dhaliwal says once he saw the vehicle speeding towards him, he stepped on the gas to speed up to make sure he wouldn’t get hit as the vehicle was trying to pull out onto Falconridge Drive. Dhaliwal mentions the vehicle did get stuck because of the snow, but was able to correct itself and kept driving.
“I saw in my rearview one of the doors was open on the driver side and I couldn't see the officer anymore and I didn't see the vehicle after that either.”
According to Dhaliwal, the speed limit in the Falconridge area, where it took place, was 50 km/h he says the vehicle was going at least 80 km/h.
“When I looked in the mirror it was going faster than that, I think. It was very quick.”
Calgarian Mackson Ogunsanya was the next witness to take the stand. Ogunsanya said he was travelling to his in-law's house on Flaconridge Drive the night of December 31.
“I noticed a car coming towards me. I believed the speed is not normal.," Ogunsunya continued on, "I noticed that something from that car was coming towards me. “
Ogunsanya says that he did not have time to react. He applied his brake and then heard a sound underneath his car.
“I looked around, then I saw a police officer on the floor. Immediately I realized that it was what I hit.”
Once Ogunsanya called 911 and the police arrived, they instructed Ogunsanya to wait in his car.
“I sat inside my car, I started crying because I believe I killed someone.”
A short recess was taken after Ogunsanya finished talking about what happened that night. After the break, Crown Prosecutor Mike Ewenson began asking him questions.
“What speed was your vehicle travelling at?” asked Ewenson.
Ogunsunya believes he was travelling around 40 km/h and that the vehicle coming towards him was moving a lot faster.
“That is what I first noticed about the vehicle, that it is moving fast.”
In court on Monday, evidence was presented in the form of a screengrab from Harnett’s body-worn camera that showed the speedometer at 60 mph (97 km/h) of the vehicle he was hanging onto.
Defence Counsel Bob Aloneissi did not ask Ogunsanya any questions.
Mon, May 6, 10:00 AM
