R.I.D.E. in memory of Vaughan teenager
R.I.D.E. in memory of Vaughan teenager
Vaughan
November 29, 2008 12:53 AM
Joe Fantauzzi
York Regional Police dedicate the holiday R.I.D.E. to the memory of someone killed in an impaired driving-related collision. This year, that person is Johnny Agelakos.
On Jan. 7, 2001, Mr. Agelakos, 18, a Vaughan Secondary School student and avid hockey and soccer player, attended a party with his girlfriend. Mr. Agelakos chose not to drink that night.
At 12:30 a.m., Anthony Losacco and three friends left a Markham bar after drinking, according to police.
About 30 minutes later, Mr. Agelakos was headed east on Hwy. 7 when the westbound car driven by Mr. Losacco crossed over the raised centre island into the oncoming lanes and slammed into Mr. Agelakos’ car.
Mr. Agelakos died in the crash. His girlfriend and another friend were badly injured.
Mr. Losacco was charged with a slew of offences and, in 2004, pleaded guilty to impaired operation of a motor vehicle causing death and two counts of impaired operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.
He was sentenced to three years behind bars for each charge and received a five-year concurrent sentence and five-year-driving ban.
That ban will end in early 2009, police said. Mr. Agelakos’ mother had hoped to attend the R.I.D.E. launch this week, but the memory of her son still weighed heavily, Chief Armand La Barge said.
“I think we all know the expression that time heals all wounds, but there is no amount of time that can heal the loss of a loved one — a son or a daughter, a mother or father,” Chief La Barge said. “There are real people behind the impaired driving statistics that we use.”
‘It stays with me’
John Hewson, now an operations supervisor with York EMS, was the first paramedic on the scene of the crash that eventually took Mr. Agelakos’ life, he said.
“It’s huge and it never goes away, it stays with me,” he said of the magnitude of a fatal collision scene. “Our coping mechanism is to take our uniform off ... everything goes away, it gets filed away — until years later. I can recall this call vividly. I can still see the patients in the car, I still see how I coached my partner to do some medical care to this gentleman.”
In June 2007, York police launched the Safe Roads...Your Call program, which encourages drivers to call 911 if they spot a suspected impaired driver.
In the first year of the program, police took 2,221 calls — an increase of 67 per cent over the same period a year earlier. And, of those calls, police made 305 arrests.
The York Region chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving also launched its red ribbon campaign, which aims to raise the profile of safe and sober driving.
“We need to make personal commitments to care for each other and to keep our community safe,” new MADD York Region chapter president Kylee Goldman said.
Senseless, selfish“Whether or not you have been personally affected by impaired driving, we are all victims. York Region is our home; we drive on our roads every day and so we are all affected by impaired driving.”
Chief La Barge is urging all drivers to be responsible during the holidays.
“Impaired driving is not an accident, it is senseless and selfish and, I think, most importantly it is a completely preventable criminal act.”