Guelph police have laid charges in a fatal collision that involved an electric wheelchair earlier this year.
A 49-year-old Guelph woman has been charged with careless driving causing death under the Highway Traffic Act in the incident that claimed the life of a 57-year-old Guelph man.
On May 14, Guelph police were called to the intersection of Edinburgh Road North and Willow Road around 11:30 a.m. due to reports of a four-door sedan striking a man crossing the intersection in his electric wheelchair.
Police say that following the initial crash, the vehicle would partially leave the roadway and crash into a cement retaining wall nearby.
The man in the wheelchair, later identified as Paul Bell, was taken to Guelph General Hospital with significant injuries and succumbed to those injuries a week later on May 21.
Guelph police say they laid the charges against the woman on Thursday.
She is now scheduled to appear in court on September 18.
Bell was well-known in the community as a popular Santa Claus who made appearances at many locations. He died with his wife by his side.
Initially, a GoFundMe page was established to help Bell pay for his medical expenses, but once he died, those funds went towards funeral arrangements.