Emergency crews respond to a two-vehicle collision on Hwy. 401, west of Mull Rd, May 10, 2014. (Contributed photo)Emergency crews respond to a two-vehicle collision on Hwy. 401, west of Mull Rd, May 10, 2014. (Contributed photo)
London

London Trucker Pleads Guilty In Fatal Crash

A London truck driver has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge for his role in a crash on Hwy. 401 that claimed the lives of a Windsor man and his niece.

Leszek Urbaniak, 59, was charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death in June, 2014 after an OPP investigation into the May 10 crash. Marc Lafontaine, 35, and his 13-year-old niece Alyssa Smulders were killed instantly when Urbaniak's truck slammed into their vehicle on the 401 near Mull Rd. in Chatham-Kent.

Police say the tractor trailer crossed from the westbound lanes to the eastbound lanes, where it collided head-on with Lafontaine's car.

Speaking through an interpreter in a Chatham court on Tuesday morning, Urbaniak pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving.

The case has been put over to March 18 when the judge will hear a statement of facts agreed to by the crown and the defence. **with files from Simon Crouch and Ashton Patis**

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