

Rachael D'Amore, CP24.com





An Orangeville man has been handed a nine-year sentence for his role in a series of crashes that stretched from Brampton to Toronto and claimed the lives of two people.

The series of incidents started at around 1 a.m. on June 29, 2018 when a Mercedes became involved in a crash with two other vehicles near McLaughlin Road and Steeles Avenue in Brampton.

A speeding white Mercedes, driven by Martin Hines, collided head-on with a Mazda 5 near the intersection. The crash killed 60-year-old Eddie Chavez Alquinto and seriously injured his wife.

According to Toronto police, when passing drivers stopped to try and help the victims, Hines jumped into an unoccupied black Honda Civic and fled the scene.

The black car took off on Steeles Avenue at a high rate of speed.

About 20 minutes later, as he reached Kipling Avenue, Hines struck a Dodge Caravan that was making a left hand turn.

The van spun out of control and subsequently struck a white Chevrolet, careening it into a pedestrian who was standing on the southeast corner of the intersection.

The 19-year-old pedestrian later died of his injuries in hospital.

Instead of stopping, the vehicle continued eastbound and soon became involved in another multi-vehicle crash near Weston Road and Steeles Avenue.

Hines then got out of the car and attempted to steal a TTC bus but failed, as responding police officers quickly took him into custody.

The 30-year-old was charged with multiple offences.

Last week, he pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal negligence causing death, two counts of impaired driving causing death, one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm, one count of impaired driving causing bodily harm, one count of robbery, and one count of theft of a motor vehicle.

He was sentenced at around 2 p.m. on Wednesday.