More than a year after an accident that led to the drowning deaths of two area residents, Canora/Sturgis police have laid charges against a Yorkton man.
Sixty-six-year-old James McDougall is charged with two counts each of impaired operation of a motor vehicle causing death, impaired operation of a motor vehicle while exceeding .08 causing death, and dangerous driving causing death.
On July 11, 2010, McDougall was the driver of a truck that became caught in the current of a flooded low-level river crossing near Springside. The truck was swept into the Whitesand River.
McDougall managed to escape the truck, but the bodies of his friends and fellow passengers-73-year-old Nick Zenkewich and an 84-year-old man whose name was not released-were later found by searchers.
Constable Tania Abbot of the Canora/Sturgis RCMP explained the 13-month delay in the charges.
"At the time, we needed the support systems of various departments-the underwater recovery team, the police dog services, traffic reconstruction-just many different support systems that were involved in the investigation. So all the documentation, the full reports, were needed in consultation with the crown in order to obtain all the evidence needed to lay any criminal code charges."
McDougall was scheduled to appear in Canora Provincial Court on August 4. His matters were adjourned until September 1.
