Impaired charges laid in fatal crash that shut down Ottawa Valley highway
Posted Jul 9, 2025 11:36:51 AM.
Last Updated Jul 9, 2025 11:38:53 AM.
Police laid charges in a multi-vehicle pile-up on Tuesday that shut down a main highway in the Ottawa Valley for over 10 hours.
Emergency responders were sent to a portion of Highway 41, south of Eganville, Ont., just after noon on July 8. There, they found a serious four-vehicle pile-up. It happened in an area where vehicles were stopped in a construction zone, but one vehicle didn’t, striking the others, police said in a press release.
As a result of the collision, an 81-year-old man was killed and four others injured. At the scene, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers arrested one man from outside the region.
Randal Stewart, 61, of Haliburton, is facing charges of:
- Dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death
- Refusal to comply with a demand for a breath sample – death
- Driving with an open container of liquor
- Having care or control of a vehicle with open liquor
The accused was release from custody and is scheduled to appear in a Pembroke court on Aug. 5. His drivers licence was suspended for 90 days.
The collisions closed the highway until 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
