Three men were killed in Brampton overnight in a crash that was possibly linked to a street race, police say.
One person is now in custody in relation to the incident.
Emergency crews were called to Chinguacousy Road and Bovaird Drive West at around 1:30 a.m. Thursday for reports of a vehicle that crashed into a pole.
Two people were trapped inside the vehicle and the third was found outside the vehicle, Peel paramedics said.
All three died at the scene.
Const. Tyler Bell told reporters that all of the victims were young adult men, adding that the theory right now is that the vehicle may have been involved in a street race.
“There were varying reports that there may have been a second vehicle involved and that there may have been high speeds,” Bell said.
“The working theory now is that the two vehicles were involved in some sort of high-speed interaction. The sequence of events, how they came into contact, that’s all part of the investigation from our major collisions bureau. But, as you can tell by the substantial debris here, that obviously high speed was definitely a factor.”
The vehicle that the three victims were inside — a Volkswagen Jetta — was completely destroyed and cut in half.
A second vehicle, a Nissan Altima, was found abandoned at a nearby gas station, Bell said. It’s believed the Altima at some point “made contact” with the Jetta, though it’s not clear when exactly that occurred or if it directly caused the crash, Bell said.
“Based on the condition of the vehicle (the Altima), we associated that to the crash here. Evidence at the scene confirmed that. And we have who we believe is the driver of that vehicle in custody now,” Bell said.
Bell said while it’s still a bit early to say what charges that man will face, at least three counts of failing to remain at the scene of a crash causing death can be anticipated.
It’s not yet confirmed if the driver was the only individual in the second vehicle, Bell said.
One of the reports made to 911 “had varying information that suggested that there was racing involved,” Bell said, adding that officers are still working to confirm that was the case.
The three men killed haven’t been identified as police are still working to complete next of kin notifications.
“Obviously speeds were a major factor here. For the vehicle to be in the condition that it’s in, it would have been travelling at an unacceptably high rate of speed,” Bell said.
“As to whether or not alcohol was a factor, it’s too early to determine, especially for the victim vehicle.”
It’s believed both vehicles were heading west on Bovaird Drive, Bell said.
Bovaird Drive was closed between Fletchers Creek Boulevard and Chinguacousy Road after the crash.
Anyone with video footage of either the Jetta or Altima around the time of the incident was asked to contact investigators.