The man accused in a hit-and-run collision tied to the death of famed Canadian conductor Boris Brott made a brief virtual court appearance from a Hamilton jail on Friday.
Arsenije Lojovic, 33, is facing charges of failing to stop at an accident causing death and dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death in connection with the fatal incident on Park Street South at Markland Street on Tuesday morning.
He’s set to appear in court again on April 20 to set a date for a bail hearing.
Lojovic’s case is also the subject of a Special Investigation Unit probe since three police officers and the accused were taken to hospital to be treated for unspecified injuries.
Hamilton police say a chain of events began around 10 a.m. on Tuesday with the hit and run at Park Street South and Markland Street in the lower city.
The 78-year-old Brott was struck by a vehicle and rushed to hospital in “critical life-threatening condition.”
Lojovic would eventually be arrested by officers on Elmwood Avenue near Garth Street on the Mountain.
“What I can say is that police did have interaction with the vehicle involved and we do have a male arrested.” Const. Indy Bharaj told reporters at ther scene.
Police have not said whether damage to two Hamilton police cruisers that were seen parked on two separate properties in the area of Elmwood Avenue is connected with the interaction with Lojovic. Those inquiries were redirected by Bharaj to the SIU.
Brott was one of the most internationally recognized Canadian conductors, with a career spanning decades.
Since news of his death, tributes have been rolling in across the city and beyond for the music legend who found a place with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, the Orchestre Classique de Montreal, and the Brott Music Festival.
An in-person service for Brott will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at Temple Anshe Sholom on Cline Avenue North in Hamilton.
It will also be streamed on Zoom.
He will be laid to rest in Montreal at a later date. Brott was born in Montreal and has family there.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger says the city will be working with Brott’s family on a public memorial and celebration for the conductor at a later date.