A man identified as the driver of the semi that collided with the Humboldt Broncos’ team bus has been arrested and faces 29 charges.
Jaskirat Sidhu was arrested without incident at his home in Calgary on July 6. The 29-year-old man faces 16 charges of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 charges of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.
Sidhu will make his first court appearance in Saskatchewan next week. He was working for a Calgary-based trucking company at the time of the accident.
The charges came exactly three months after the accident.
On April 6, the Broncos’ bus was heading north on Highway 35 toward Nipawin at the time of the accident. The truck, driven by Sidhu, was heading west on Highway 335 when the two vehicles struck each other at the intersection of the two highways, according to RCMP.
Sidhu was not injured in the crash and was questioned by police. He was detained briefly, then released.
In total, more than 120 investigators worked on the case, including major crimes and forensic units. Police conducted 60 interviews during the investigation and over 6,000 photos were taken during the examination. Forensic investigators also reconstructed the collision, and considered evidence including the driver’s logbook and witness accounts, as well as used unmanned aerial vehicles to capture evidence.
RCMP met with family members of the players, staff and volunteers who were on the Broncos bus on Friday morning.
“This was a mass casualty event. There were a number of aspects of the collision that we had to investigate,” said Supt. Derek Williams, officer in charge of the major crime unit, at a press conference on July 6.
