Ontario Provincial Police say they now possess a suspect vehicle and have arrested a 35-year-old driver connected with a fatal hit and run last Wednesday in Norfolk County, Ont.
In a social media post, a spokesperson said “valuable information” from the public contributed to the seizure of the dark-coloured pickup and that the driver was taken into custody “without incident” on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Const. Andrew Gamble said investigators “positively identified” the driver and that search efforts were ongoing.
“I would also like to point out that there is believed to be no threat to public safety,” Gamble said on X.
OPP say a 14-year-old died after being hit by the pickup around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday while walking along a road on Fairground Road between 5th Concession and 6th Concession Road in Cultus, just an hour’s drive southeast of London.
Although the service has not identified the deceased, the teen’s mother has come forward to Global News and confirmed it was her son Dominik Short-Empey.
“Dominik will forever remain in the hearts of everyone who knew him, for his fearless, carefree nature — he truly had a heart of gold,” the family said in a statement.
Short-Empey, who had a passion for riding dirt bikes, was a Grade 10 student at Valley Heights Secondary School near Langton.
“He was highly skilled in hands-on technology courses and a valued member of his school community,” the Grand Erie school board said in a statement. “He will be greatly missed by the staff and students at Valley Heights, and especially by those who were fortunate enough to be his friends.”
Christine Empey, his mother, said her family is “sad and angry” about the loss and praised the community for helping OPP with the investigation.
Before the arrest, Empey made a plea to the driver “to please come forward.”
“And directly to the person involved, please turn yourself in, you owe us to do that please allow us to close this portion of the book you created of our lives and move on to the new chapter,” Empey said.
Two public visitations for Short-Empey are set for Tuesday night with a public funeral on Wednesday morning in Langton.
So far a GoFundMe campaign “to ease financial burdens” has raised just over $11,000 as of Monday afternoon.
OPP said the accused Norfolk County driver is facing a fail to stop resulting in death charge and was being detained as of Monday afternoon.
Detectives are still seeking witnesses and surveillance video from those who travelled along Fairground Road between 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Anonymous tips can be submitted online to Crime Stoppers.
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