Driver fighting impaired charges in connection to crash that killed Caledon mother and three young daughters

More than a year after the deadly crash that killed a mother and her three young daughters, Brady Robertson pleaded guilty to four counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death in a Brampton courtroom on Monday. He is fighting the other five charges.

Karolina Ciasullo, 37, and her three daughters: six-year-old Klara; three-year-old Lilianna; and one-year-old Mila were killed after their Volkswagen Atlas was struck by Robertson’s speeding Infiniti G35 near Torbram Road and Countryside Drive on June 18, 2020.        

Robertson, a 21-year-old Caledon resident, pleaded not guilty to four counts of impaired operation causing death by drugs and a subsequent charge of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle in relation to a crash that took place two days earlier, when he drove onto a Caledon sidewalk before driving away as onlookers tried to stop him.

Karolina Ciasullo, 37, and her three daughters.

(Image from GoFundMe)

The agreed statement of facts details how a Peel Police officer followed the blue Infiniti on June 18 after noticing the vehicle had no front license plate. The judge-only trial heard Robertson ran a red light at Torbram Road and Countryside Drive, swerving around stopped cars and into the intersection before hitting the driver’s side of Ciasullo’s vehicle. The collision sent the family’s vehicle into a light pole, which then collapsed onto the car. 

The Infiniti was struck by another vehicle before coming to a stop on Countryside Drive and catching fire. Inside the vehicle, police found four white pills in a plastic bag in the glove box, determined to be fentanyl. A baggie with 8.5 grams of what was later tested to be cannabis was also found.

Robertson was taken to hospital after the crash. He was arrested six days later and remained in police custody.

Brady Robertson has pleaded guilty to four counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death.

(Image from Facebook)

Robertson was denied bail last August. A publication ban didn’t allow details of Justice of the Peace Karen Jensen’s ruling to be made public. Section 517 of the Criminal Code states publication bans can be ordered on bail hearings to cover details until a preliminary trial takes place or a trial is complete.

“The purpose of the ban is to preserve the rights of the defendant to a fair trial, and the presumption of innocence. Further, the ban prevents public dissemination of information or evidence so that jurors make their decisions based only on admissible evidence presented during the trial. It is also intended to maintain the integrity of the evidence of any potential witness who may be called to testify in the case,” Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General states.

The trial continues Tuesday and will take place in three stages: July 12 to 20; November 1 to 9; and December 20 to 22.

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