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OPP said driver ignored Highway 401 closure for fatal accident

35-year-old Kitchener man faces numerous charges after driving through road closure on Highway 401
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A 35-year-old from Kitchener is facing impaired driving, dangerous driving, and excess-blood- alcohol charges after driving through a road closure implemented as a result of a fatal crash investigation on Highway 401 near Cambridge last night.

Ontario Provincial Police closed the westbound lanes of the highway at Highway 6 north to respond to a collision in which a 30-year-old Kitchener man died.

His black, four-door sedan slammed into the back of a disabled delivery truck parked on the shoulder east of Townline Road in Cambridge.

Police say the truck was parked with its four-way flashing lights on when the accident happened around 7:45 p.m.

While the road closure was in place for the police investigation, with MTO blocker trucks and patrol vehicles on scene, OPP said around 1 a.m. a vehicle broke through the closure at Highway 6 north and sped down the 401 towards officers and first responders at the scene of the crash.

"One of the MTO road maintenance crews observed what was happening, got on the radio and radioed up ahead to a patrol unit up at the crash scene," said OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt in a Twitter post.

"They got wind of this vehicle approaching them. They started blasting their air horns alerting the officers and the tow truck drivers that were on scene."

Schmidt said the driver "came to a screeching halt" just prior to slamming into the side of a tow truck.

The driver then attempted to flee in his vehicle before he was stopped by officers and arrested. Schmidt said cannabis was also found in the vehicle, which was accessible to the driver.

The man received a 90-day license suspension, seven-day vehicle impound and has a court date in June to answer to the charges.

All lanes were reopened just before 4 a.m. this morning.

Police are asking any witnesses or anyone with dash cam footage of the accident to contact Cambridge OPP at 519-654-0150.