A Montreal driver who was driving completely drunk admitted to fatally mowing down a pedestrian after running a red light while driving the vehicle of a customer of his garage.
“My apologies, I had no intention, it was an accident,” Vi Trung Ngo told the media before pleading guilty Wednesday morning at the Montreal courthouse.
He then admitted to having caused the death of Fabienne Houde-Bastien on May 21, 2023. According to toxicological analyses, he had nearly three times the permitted level of alcohol in his blood during the collision.
Fabienne Houde-Bastien, 31, was fatally mowed down by Vi Trung Ngo in May 2023.
Photo Facebook Fabienne Houde Bastien
The 31-year-old woman was crossing at the intersection of Rue Jean-Talon and Boulevard Saint-Laurent in the middle of the night when she was hit by a vehicle driven by an Uber driver.
This SUV had just collided with the Hyundai Tucson driven by Ngo. The accused had driven a red light at 80 km/h, while the limit allowed in the area is 50 km/h.
Vi Trung Ngo, driving the gray Hyundai Tucson, collided with an Uber driver’s Volkswagen Tiguan.
Photo Agence QMI, Pascal Girard
Fabienne Houde-Bastien, who was thrown into the air by the force of the impact, was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Three times the alcohol level
When the police arrived on the scene, Ngo had no balance and had to stand on a pole. He had “a strong smell of beer coming from his breath, heavy eyelids, glassy eyes”, he admitted.
-He was taken to hospital, where he was “uncooperative and agitated.” The analysis of the blood samples made it possible to assess that his blood alcohol level was close to 0.24, while the permitted limit is 0.08.
The Uber driver and his passenger also suffered significant injuries in the collision.
Customer vehicle
Vi Trung Ngo also admitted to having used the vehicle of customers of his auto repair garage located in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie during his trip. They had never authorized the driver to use their SUV for personal purposes.
The family of Fabienne Houde-Bastien, who attended the hearing, did not wish to speak to the media.
His sisters, however, launched a heartfelt cry to change mentalities following his death.
Photo provided by Yanick Houde Bastien
“We cannot hammer it home enough in people’s heads to be careful when you are behind the wheel,” said the Journal Jasmine Houde-Bastien.
Vi Trung Ngo will return to court in the coming months for further proceedings.
