Hamilton driver in court after being charged in hit-and-run that killed Boris Brott

Crime | Latest News | Police |

By

Published April 6, 2022 at 10:27 pm

Officers injured, suspect caught after fatal hit-and-run in downtown Hamilton
Three Hamilton officers and the suspect were injured in a hit-and-run in the Durand neighbourhood that killed renowned conductor Boris Brott. It was Hamilton's seventh pedestrian death of 2022.

A 33-year-old man who is accused in relation to the hit-and-run that killed famed conductor Boris Brott had a virtual bail hearing in a Hamilton court on Wednesday.

Arsenije Lojovic faces two counts: failing to stop at an accident causing death, and dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death, in connection with the fatal collision on Tuesday morning (April 5). Lojovic, according to reports, appeared briefly via video link, and a pretrial publication ban was imposed by the court.

The 78-year-old Brott was struck in the Durand neighbourhood on Park Street South at Markland Street, not long after Hamilton Police Service patrol officers received an “all car broadcast call” about a wrong-way driver on Hamilton Mountain. After a driver who is believed to be the same one police were looking for struck Brott, the HPS made an arrest on Elmwood Avenue near Garth Street.

The suspect and three officers were injured. The injuries to the former led to the Ontario Special Investigations Unit (SIU) invoking its mandate. The SIU, the provincial police watchdog, does so when a person is injured during a police interaction.

Brott died of his injuries at hospital. The Order of Canada recipient, who founded the National Academy Orchestra of Canada and the Brott Music Festival, Canada’s largest orchestral music festival, is Hamilton’s seventh pedestrian this year to die after being hit by a motorist. Word that Brott was the victim brought forth an outpouring of emotion.

A conviction for dangerous operation causing death — often referred to as dangerous driving causing death — carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

Coincidentally, on Tuesday, a 29-year-old Hamilton man who pleaded guilty to the same charge in relation to another pedestrian fatality received his sentence.

Brandon Aubert received four years in prison and a eight-year driving ban for his conviction in the hit-and-run that killed 11-year-old Jude Strickland on Dec. 1, 2020. The sentence was given by a judge. The Crown had asked for a five-year prison term, while Aubert’s legal counsel had sought 2½ years after he entered a guilty plea.

insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising