Family of Ontario father killed by alleged dangerous driver calls for tougher laws
The family of an Ontario father of three killed earlier this month by an alleged dangerous driver, who was already facing charges in a collision involving the premier, is trying to channel some of their grief and pain into pushing for stronger laws.
Andrew Cristillo, 35, was killed Aug. 3 in a head-on crash in Whitchurch-Stouffville that also left his wife and their three young daughters injured.
It should not have happened, said his brother Jordan Cristillo, and he does not want other people to suffer through the same nightmare.
“When you see every weekend, (headlines like) ‘One dead, two injured,’ these are people’s families that get torn apart and flipped upside down, and we just happen to be one of them,” Cristillo said in a recent interview.
“So now I want to turn this pain into purpose and try to – in honour of my brother, but also in honour of all those other families that are impacted — put an end to this, because if you have dangerous drivers back on the road, you’re just gambling with other people’s lives.”
The three girls are recovering from various physical injuries, but emotionally and spiritually they have a long road ahead, said Cristillo. All three were under the age of seven at the time of the crash, but in the few short weeks since then, two of them have had to mark birthdays without their beloved father.
“I’m confident that they’ll continue to (physically) heal and move forward, but it’s more of the life milestones of looking out when you’re doing a recital and not seeing your father in the crowd, or walking down an aisle, and not having your father to walk you down that aisle,” Cristillo said.
“That’s a life-long sentence that this family has now.”
The family has launched a petition calling for Andrew’s Law, listing ways they want to see dangerous driving penalties strengthened.
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“The first change we’d like to see is, if you’re being charged with dangerous driving, your licence is revoked until you go through your trial, so that we prevent and protect others on the road from dangerous drivers,” Cristillo said.
As well, there should be lifetime driving bans for people convicted of extreme dangerous driving, Cristillo said.
“I don’t know how many more lives need to be ripped apart and families torn apart for the government really to take this seriously,” he said. “If you know you have people that can’t be trusted behind a wheel, don’t allow them, because driving is a privilege. It’s not a right.”
Jaiwin Kirubananthan, 18, was charged with dangerous driving causing death, three counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, failing to remain at an accident resulting in death and public mischief in the crash that killed Andrew Cristillo. He is expected to appear in an Oshawa, Ont., court Monday morning.
Police say Kirubananthan is the same person charged after a car hit an Ontario Provincial Police vehicle Premier Doug Ford was travelling in on Highway 401 in January.
Kirubananthan’s lawyer could not comment on the circumstances of either case, but said he believes the dangerous driving laws are sufficient.
“The maximum penalty for dangerous driving causing death is life in prison,” Barry Fox said in an interview. “Can’t get much more drastic or draconian than that.”
There are degrees of dangerous driving, Fox said, and the law already recognizes that with a wide range of possible punishments. When an accused gets released on bail they may have a driving prohibition attached, Fox said, but it isn’t mandatory.
“There has to be room within the ambit of the law to accommodate different types of dangerous driving,” he said. “We just can’t take a hammer and say, ‘You’re off the road for two years (or) five years.”
Ford was asked at a news conference earlier this month if he would support strengthening penalties and said he agrees “absolutely.”
“I think it’s long overdue, so we’ll look at it,” Ford said.
The federal Justice Department can’t comment on the case while it’s before the courts, a spokesperson said, noting that laws around impaired and dangerous driving were strengthened in 2018.
“Among other changes, the penalty for dangerous driving causing death was increased to a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, which is the highest maximum term of imprisonment provided by law,” Katelyn Moores said in a statement.
People who are convicted of dangerous driving causing death can also receive an order prohibiting them from driving for life, Moores said, adding that the government is “always looking at ways to improve the criminal justice system and to ensure the safety of our roads and highways.”
Ford has called for people across Ontario to support the Cristillo family. Not only have they lost a father, but his wife Christina has been battling breast cancer for the past few years.
“That whole uncertainty hasn’t gone away,” Jordan Cristillo said. “We never imagined that my brother wouldn’t be there with her along each of these steps. So it’s hard to fathom how she feels having to face that uncertainty, but also to not have her best friend and partner, who make her laugh during all the appointments, by her side to get through it.”
Cristillo said Christina’s cancer diagnosis made his brother determined to create fun, life-long memories as a family. He was always taking his kids on adventures and being present as a hands-on father, Cristillo said. Andrew was the life of the party who always had people in stitches, he said, adding he will miss his brother’s pranks and at-times inappropriate jokes.
Friends and strangers alike have resoundingly responded to a family GoFundMe fundraiser seeking help for medical and other expenses for the girls. More than $500,000 in donations have poured in.
As well, the family’s change.org petition called Implement Andrew’s Law for Safer Roads has garnered more than 10,000 signatures.
“Whether it’s signing a petition or supporting the GoFundMe, all those acts big and small, is really giving our family strength to keep moving forward,” Cristillo said.
“We’re very grateful for the entire community for having our backs.”
A Canadian man has pleaded guilty to illegally photographing classified U.S. defence facilities at the Space Force military base in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Xiao Guang Pan, 71, of Brampton, Ont., pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful photographing of military installations without authorization on three separate days in early January.
A U.S. District Court in Florida judge put Pan on probation for 12 months and immediately ordered him deported to Canada by U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Enforcement (ICE) officers under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, citing his violations of American espionage laws.
Pan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A U.S. Department of Justice official was unsure about where Pan is in the ICE deportation process.
Pan’s guilty plea and deportation come as anxiety grows among U.S. lawmakers and ordinary Americans about hundreds of unidentified drones flying over sensitive American military bases amid concerns about foreign surveillance and spying.
A copy of Pan’s plea agreement reveals a stark contrast between what Pan said he was doing in Florida in January, when he was stopped by police, versus what U.S. federal agents actually found on his drone, phone and storage devices after seizing them.
On an artist biography page published by the Brampton Arts Organization, Pan stated he was born in China in 1953, immigrated to Canada in 2001 and has lived in Brampton since 2003.
Pan worked as a Best Buy Canada technician for 18 years until retirement in 2022, the biography adds.
Pan entered U.S. via Detroit
Pan entered the U.S. on a tourist visa at the Ambassador’s Bridge in Detroit, Mich., on or about Nov. 2, 2024. The court documents don’t suggest what Pan was doing or where Pan travelled in November and December.
The retiree was charged by summons on Feb. 11 after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) detected drone activity near the Space Force Base and called in law enforcement on Jan. 7.
Brevard County Sheriffs responded. They saw Pan operating a DJI Mavic Pro 3 unmanned drone quadcopter from a parking lot in Port Canaveral and learned he’d been in the area for three days.
The local officers then tipped federal law enforcement agencies.
Federal agents caught the Brampton resident using his powerful unmanned drone and a separate camera with telephoto lenses to photograph and video classified military facilities and equipment near the Space Force base on Jan. 5, 6 and 7, without the base commander’s prior authorization as required under U.S. law.
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According to a statement of facts found in the plea agreement, which Pan signed and initialled on every page, U.S. federal agents interviewed him twice – no dates were given – and asked the Canadian what he was doing with the drone.
They also warned him: lying to federal agents is a federal crime in the U.S.
“Pan told the agents that he had flown his drone to take pictures of the beauty of nature, the sunrise, and the cruise ship port. He stated that he had not seen any launch pads and that he did not know that he was near a military installation,” the plea deal states.
Pan voluntarily submitted his devices to U.S. agents for a forensic data extraction.
That’s when the investigators found more than sunrises, nature and cruise ship videos.
The data showed Pan had flown his drone nine times and taken 1,919 photographs and videos during his three-day Florida visit, the plea deal states.
Of those 1,919 photos and videos, 243 photographs and 13 videos showed specific images of Space Force base military infrastructure and launch facilities, including fuel and munitions storage facilities, security checkpoints, and a Navy submarine platform, according to the plea agreement.
On Jan. 6, his second day of flying the drone quadcopter, Pan took nine videos and 166 photographs of Space Force installations.
This time, he launched his drone from a location several miles closer to the base; his photographs and videos captured the same military infrastructure as on Jan. 5, but in higher quality and from different angles, according to the plea agreement.
Pan also captured images and videos of mission control infrastructure and fuel and munitions facilities, including a photograph of a Space Launch Complex and payload processing facilities operated by two defence contractors.
On the third day of his drone flying, and before he was encountered by law enforcement, Pan recorded two more videos and took 56 photos.
Day 3 images included security checkpoints
His Day 3 images and videos showed roads, power distribution infrastructure, security checkpoints, mission control infrastructure, national security space launch infrastructure, fuel and munitions storage, and naval infrastructure, the plea agreement states.
After police stopped Pan on Jan. 7, federal agents interviewed him twice.
During those interviews, Pan was warned that lying to agents is a federal crime. He did so anyway, the plea deal suggests.
In addition to telling agents he flew his drone to record nature, sunrises, and cruise ships and didn’t know he was near a military base, Pan said his drone sends alerts and warnings to his handset and he received no alerts or warnings, the plea deal adds.
Investigators recovered flight log data from Pan’s quadcopter. It showed that on all three days he flew, the drone logged several alerts and sent operator messages about altitude and FAA airspace violations.
On Pan’s cell phone, agents also found several screenshots he created, including several Google Maps satellite overviews of Cape Canaveral. One screenshot taken Jan. 7 while Pan was at his drone launch location, prominently displayed the words “Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.”
Pan surrendered his $5,000 quadcopter
Pan was charged in February after a multi-agency probe led by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Homeland Security, and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
Pan surrendered his $5,000 quadcopter, control equipment and storage devices that housed his videos and photos to the U.S. authorities.
He is also banned from returning to the U.S. without prior consent from the Secretary of the Homeland Security department.
TORONTO – An old bat was a difference-maker for the Toronto Blue Jays in a wild 9-8 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night.
Ty France sparked an eighth-inning rally with a solo homer and Addison Barger emerged from a 2-for-30 slump with a two-run double to help the Blue Jays to their AL-best 40th comeback win of the year.
Barger said France “randomly decided” to use one of his old bats from the cage before his pinch-hit appearance.
“I haven’t seen the bat since last year and he had a homer with it,” Barger said. “And I was like, ‘Oh shoot, I’m going to use that.’ And it worked.”
Barger lined a slider from Michael Tonkin (2-1) off the top of the wall in right field to bring home Alejandro Kirk with the tying run and George Springer from first base with the go-ahead run.
Seranthony Dominguez (3-4) got two outs in the eighth inning for the win and closer Jeff Hoffman worked the ninth for his 29th save as Toronto (78-56) took the rubber game of the three-game series.
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Toronto improved its record at Rogers Centre to 44-22, the best home mark in Major League Baseball at the end of the game.
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Barger became a regular in the lineup early in the season after providing consistent pop at the plate. Despite his struggles in recent weeks, he remains unfazed by late-game pressure.
With runners in scoring position in the seventh inning or later this season, Barger is hitting .389 with a 1.161 OPS (on-base plus slugging).
“Addy’s got talent,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “He can do that. We’ve seen him do that, we’ve seen him hit home runs.
“I think it’s just the natural course of the season for a young guy and I think he’s navigating it pretty well.”
On the mound, Schneider went right back to Hoffman a night after he gave up two homers and blew his seventh save of the season.
“It’s like a quarterback throwing an interception,” Schneider said. “You’ve got to have a short memory and you’ve got to move on to the next thing. And you know, Hoff, like everybody else on this team, they move on to the next thing.”
The game had eight solo homers — four from each team — and Toronto clawed back from three deficits before taking its first lead in the eighth.
Only the Los Angeles Dodgers (41) have had more comeback wins.
“These guys do not quit,” Schneider said. “They do not give a (crap) who they’re playing against. They don’t care what the situation is. I love it.”
Andres Gimenez and Davis Schneider, with a pair, also went deep for Toronto. Byron Buxton, with two, Luke Keaschall and Brooks Lee homered for the Twins (60-73).
Toronto starter Eric Lauer allowed six earned runs and 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings. He had four strikeouts.
Minnesota starter Simeon Woods Richardson gave up five earned runs and five hits over 3 2/3 frames. He walked a pair and fanned two.
Toronto maintained its four-game lead on Boston in the American League East Division standings. The Red Sox edged Baltimore 3-2.
The Blue Jays will continue their six-game homestand Friday night against the MLB-leading Milwaukee Brewers. Shane Bieber (1-0, 1.50 earned-run average) is tabbed to start for Toronto.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
TORONTO – Addison Barger hit a two-run double in Toronto’s three-run eighth inning as the Blue Jays came back for a 9-8 win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night.
Barger drove a ball into the right-centre field gap to score Alejandro Kirk with the tying run and George Springer with the go-ahead run.
Seranthony Dominguez (3-4) got two outs in the eighth inning for the win and closer Jeff Hoffman worked the ninth for his 29th save as Toronto took the rubber game of the three-game series.
Each team hit four home runs. All eight blasts were solo shots.
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Davis Schneider, with a pair, Andres Gimenez and Ty France, who hit a pinch-hit homer to start the rally in the eighth, went deep for Toronto (78-56).
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Byron Buxton, with two, Luke Keaschall and Brooks Lee went deep for the Twins (60-73).
Toronto starter Eric Lauer allowed six earned runs and 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings. He had four strikeouts.
Minnesota starter Simeon Woods Richardson gave up five earned runs and five hits over 3 2/3 frames. He walked a pair and fanned two.
Michael Tonkin (2-1) blew the save and took the loss.
Toronto maintained its four-game lead on Boston in the American League East Division standings. The Red Sox edged Baltimore 3-2.
KEY MOMENT
Blue Jays centre-fielder Daulton Varsho put a charge into the sellout crowd of 42,361 with his catch against the wall in the second inning. He made another brilliant catch in virtually the same spot in the third.
KEY STAT
Toronto owns the best home record in the AL at 44-22.
UP NEXT
The Blue Jays will continue their six-game homestand Friday against the Milwaukee Brewers. Shane Bieber (1-0, 1.50 earned-run average) has been tabbed to start for Toronto.
The Twins will return home for a seven-game homestand starting Friday against the San Diego Padres.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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