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An Arnprior woman and her daughter believe they were the targets of a young man now charged in a rampage that ended in a fiery crash that killed a 65-year-old grandmother of five.
Sheila Welsh died Monday on Daniel Street in Arnprior after her car was struck by a stolen Ford F150 pickup truck. Police were pursuing the stolen truck at the time and questions have been raised about whether police should have called off the pursuit. The province’s Special Investigations Unit is probing the incident.
Zachary Lee Wittke, a 20-year-old Eganville resident recently released from jail, faces a number of charges, including dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death. None of the charges against Wittke, who was to appear before a judge on Friday morning, has been proven in court.
So far, investigators have not said why the driver of the stolen pickup was headed into Arnprior at high speed. But the Arnprior woman believes her home, only a few minutes from the scene of the crash, was where the chase was headed. (The woman and her daughter asked not to be identified out of fear of reprisal.)
“We were the start of the puzzle,” the woman said in an interview on Thursday.
The woman said she immediately alerted police after she and her daughter received alarming messages from Wittke on Monday.
Previously, Wittke had been in contact with the woman and her daughter. In January 2016, the woman warned Wittke not to message her daughter after hearing about a past conviction.
Then on Monday, Wittke sent the daughter a message on shortly after 1 p.m. “Hey is there a reason why your mom messaged and threatened me? I don’t even know you,” he wrote. “It was about a year and a half ago but I was in jail so I couldn’t respond but I’m home now.”
In a separate message to the mother sent at 1:09 p.m, Wittke wrote: “So you’re gunna threaten me and then ignore me.”
The messages, which were sent via Facebook, were reviewed by the Citizen on Thursday.
The teen told her mother, who called police to say they had been contacted by Wittke, who has a history of stealing vehicles and causing damage, including ramming a U.S. border patrol officer’s vehicle during a bizarre chase in 2013, injuring the officer.
The mother said she was even more alarmed when a mutual friend said Wittke had sent a message asking where the woman lived and asking how many children were in the family.
“We have a lot of kids in this neighbourhood. He would have plowed down anyone in his way, is the way I see it,” she said on Thursday.
The police dispatched an officer in a cruiser to block the roadway to the woman’s home. The woman soon received a second message from Wittke which alarmed her even more: “I live in Eganville but I can come to Arnprior if you want,” he said.
The woman, growing more fearful, made a second call to police. “I was panicking. I didn’t know what to do,” she said.
Soon after, the officer posted near their home told the woman that a suspect was in custody and they should stay inside.
Both the woman and her daughter said they were alarmed about having contact with Wittke after they learned of his past. The daughter had befriended Wittke on Facebook in January 2016. The two had never met, but they had mutual friends. At the time, the teen said she didn’t think anything of it.
On Jan. 8, 2016, Wittke sent the teen a message saying he had spent the “majority of my youth in a custody facility,” and had recently been released after serving three years.
“Oh I’m sorry,” responded the teen girl.
“That’s okay, you don’t need to say sorry. I made mistakes,” Wittke responded, later adding that he was “busy catching up with old friends and I’m busy chasing women.”
The teen said Wittke sent her messages in January flirting and telling her she was cute. Soon after, he asked her if she wanted to go for a ride with him. She declined and was horrified to see that a few minutes later, Wittke had posted a clip of himself driving a truck on Facebook, claiming that he was “suicidal and homicidal” and challenged police, saying, “If you chase me, I will make sure someone dies. I dare you to chase me and see if I am joking.”
He said he was armed with a hammer, knife and ratchet and added: “I will kill a police officer.”
“I said, ‘Thank God I didn’t go with this guy’,” said the teen on Thursday. “I was crying. It was mind-blowing. One second he’s being nice, the next he’s making a video saying he’s not afraid to kill someone.”
In April 2016, Wittke was sentenced to two years in jail and two years’ probation after he pleaded guilty to theft of a vehicle, possession of a weapon, uttering a death threat and threatening a peace office in connection with that incident.
The woman said she feels terrible about the death of Sheila Welsh. “Jason Welsh (Sheila’s son) was my friend,” she said. “I have known him since I was 18.”
Both mother and daughter said they had never met Wittke. The daughter said the only images she has ever seen of him were 2013 photos published in the media and Facebook photos with Wittke’s face turned away from the camera.
“I wouldn’t know him if I passed him on the street,” said the woman. “If he is released (from custody) I have no idea what he looks like.”
查看原文...
Sheila Welsh died Monday on Daniel Street in Arnprior after her car was struck by a stolen Ford F150 pickup truck. Police were pursuing the stolen truck at the time and questions have been raised about whether police should have called off the pursuit. The province’s Special Investigations Unit is probing the incident.
Zachary Lee Wittke, a 20-year-old Eganville resident recently released from jail, faces a number of charges, including dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death. None of the charges against Wittke, who was to appear before a judge on Friday morning, has been proven in court.
So far, investigators have not said why the driver of the stolen pickup was headed into Arnprior at high speed. But the Arnprior woman believes her home, only a few minutes from the scene of the crash, was where the chase was headed. (The woman and her daughter asked not to be identified out of fear of reprisal.)
“We were the start of the puzzle,” the woman said in an interview on Thursday.
The woman said she immediately alerted police after she and her daughter received alarming messages from Wittke on Monday.
Previously, Wittke had been in contact with the woman and her daughter. In January 2016, the woman warned Wittke not to message her daughter after hearing about a past conviction.
Then on Monday, Wittke sent the daughter a message on shortly after 1 p.m. “Hey is there a reason why your mom messaged and threatened me? I don’t even know you,” he wrote. “It was about a year and a half ago but I was in jail so I couldn’t respond but I’m home now.”
In a separate message to the mother sent at 1:09 p.m, Wittke wrote: “So you’re gunna threaten me and then ignore me.”
The messages, which were sent via Facebook, were reviewed by the Citizen on Thursday.
The teen told her mother, who called police to say they had been contacted by Wittke, who has a history of stealing vehicles and causing damage, including ramming a U.S. border patrol officer’s vehicle during a bizarre chase in 2013, injuring the officer.
The mother said she was even more alarmed when a mutual friend said Wittke had sent a message asking where the woman lived and asking how many children were in the family.
“We have a lot of kids in this neighbourhood. He would have plowed down anyone in his way, is the way I see it,” she said on Thursday.
The police dispatched an officer in a cruiser to block the roadway to the woman’s home. The woman soon received a second message from Wittke which alarmed her even more: “I live in Eganville but I can come to Arnprior if you want,” he said.
The woman, growing more fearful, made a second call to police. “I was panicking. I didn’t know what to do,” she said.
Soon after, the officer posted near their home told the woman that a suspect was in custody and they should stay inside.
Both the woman and her daughter said they were alarmed about having contact with Wittke after they learned of his past. The daughter had befriended Wittke on Facebook in January 2016. The two had never met, but they had mutual friends. At the time, the teen said she didn’t think anything of it.
On Jan. 8, 2016, Wittke sent the teen a message saying he had spent the “majority of my youth in a custody facility,” and had recently been released after serving three years.
“Oh I’m sorry,” responded the teen girl.
“That’s okay, you don’t need to say sorry. I made mistakes,” Wittke responded, later adding that he was “busy catching up with old friends and I’m busy chasing women.”
The teen said Wittke sent her messages in January flirting and telling her she was cute. Soon after, he asked her if she wanted to go for a ride with him. She declined and was horrified to see that a few minutes later, Wittke had posted a clip of himself driving a truck on Facebook, claiming that he was “suicidal and homicidal” and challenged police, saying, “If you chase me, I will make sure someone dies. I dare you to chase me and see if I am joking.”
He said he was armed with a hammer, knife and ratchet and added: “I will kill a police officer.”
“I said, ‘Thank God I didn’t go with this guy’,” said the teen on Thursday. “I was crying. It was mind-blowing. One second he’s being nice, the next he’s making a video saying he’s not afraid to kill someone.”
In April 2016, Wittke was sentenced to two years in jail and two years’ probation after he pleaded guilty to theft of a vehicle, possession of a weapon, uttering a death threat and threatening a peace office in connection with that incident.
The woman said she feels terrible about the death of Sheila Welsh. “Jason Welsh (Sheila’s son) was my friend,” she said. “I have known him since I was 18.”
Both mother and daughter said they had never met Wittke. The daughter said the only images she has ever seen of him were 2013 photos published in the media and Facebook photos with Wittke’s face turned away from the camera.
“I wouldn’t know him if I passed him on the street,” said the woman. “If he is released (from custody) I have no idea what he looks like.”
查看原文...
