Peel paramedic charged with impaired driving causing death granted bail

A 22-year-old Peel paramedic has been charged with impaired driving causing death after a man’s body was pulled from Lake Ontario in Oakville where a vehicle entered the water on Monday.

Halton Regional Police said they responded to the area around 3 a.m. near Maple Grove Drive and Lakeshore Road East to investigate a report of a person knocking on doors.

After arriving on scene, police said the officers located a man and discovered a collision had occurred that resulted in a vehicle entering Lake Ontario from a dead-end street.

Authorities confirmed Monday afternoon that a man’s body recovered from the water was a passenger in the vehicle. He has been identified as Shawn Harpur, a 27-year-old Mississauga resident.

Aaron Dobbs, an Oakville resident, was arrested and charged with impaired driving causing death and refusing to provide a breath sample.

READ MORE: Two injured after car plows through dead-end street onto Hwy. 401 east of Toronto

Dobbs made a brief appearance in a Milton court before being released on bail. He was flanked by family members when he exited the courthouse.

Global News confirmed on Monday that Dobbs was recently hired as a paramedic with Peel Regional Paramedic Services.

The Peel Paramedic Union also tweeted confirmation Tuesday morning and union president Dave Wakely said they would not be commenting beyond that statement.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign has been launched in Harpur’s memory. The campaign statement described Harpur as an “amazing being.”

“Harpur was involved in an accident out of his control and taken away from us way too soon. He will be deeply missed but left with us our memories and photos that can never be taken from us,” the website said.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 905-825-4747 ext. 5065.

—With files from David Shum, Shallima Maharaj and Nick Westoll