Police sources tell Global News a Toronto man has been arrested after he allegedly fled to Asia after being named a suspect in a 2018 Scarborough hit-and-run.
Marc Laurin, 30, was arrested Friday night around 11 p.m. at Pearson International Airport as he walked off a plane from Taipei, Taiwan.
In August 2018, police issued a Canada-wide warrant for Laurin, a Toronto resident, after a 71-year-old motorcyclist was struck and killed by a vehicle at Brimorton Drive and Bellamy Road North.
At the time, police said the driver of the vehicle did not remain on scene and fled on foot.
Police said Laurin was wanted for failing to stop after a collision, dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death and being unlawfully at large.
Sources tell Global News that Laurin allegedly travelled to the Philippines in late August after the collision and spent time travelling around Asia over the past eight months.
The sources said Canadian police were in contact with authorities in the Philippines and asked them to seize his passport, which they agreed to do.
However, Laurin travelled to Hong Kong before that could happen and Interpol, an international policing organization, subsequently placed a “red notice” on him, which flagged him for extradition, the sources said.
Sometime over the past few days, Laurin reportedly travelled to Taiwan, where authorities became aware of the Interpol alert.
Though Taiwan does not have an extradition agreement with Canada, sources told Global News officials there still put him on a plane back to Canada and notified police.
Laurin appeared in a Toronto courtroom Saturday morning for a bail hearing where he faced several charges. He laughed and responded “no” when asked if he wanted to seek bail.
-With files from Matthew Bingley and Catherine McDonald