Court footage shows car knock Boris Brott into the air before police chase and arrest driver

Sewer and drain contractor Sean Lyons was sitting in his work truck in Hamilton's Durand neighbourhood, writing up an invoice, when he heard a noise he described as a "big bang."

Then he saw a body — one he would later learn belonged to renowned Hamilton conductor Boris Brott — fly through the air and land on the ground.

"I thought he was going to go through my windshield," said Lyons, during testimony Wednesday in the trial of Grimsby man Arsenije Lojovic. 

Lojovic is charged with failing to stop after a crash resulting in a death, dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death and breaching probation, after a wild ride that spanned the city on the morning of April 5, 2022 and resulted in Brott's death.

"By the time I got out of my van… the car was already at the other end of the street," Lyons said.

Wednesday was the second day of Crown witness testimony in the case against Lojovic, which continues with a presentation from the defence on Thursday.

Ontario court Justice Fred Campling heard from several witnesses who saw a black Volkswagen being driven erratically and dangerously that day. In addition to Lyons, a Hamilton Street Railway bus driver testified, along with a local resident who was on his way to get coffee when he saw the vehicle and the Hamilton police officers who tried to immobilize the car by crashing into it a few blocks south of Hillfield Strathallan College on the Mountain.

Lyons appears to have been the first person at Brott's side after he was hit — a moment captured on video by the security camera of a nearby home. The video was shown in court Wednesday. Lyons said he was in shock when he found Brott bleeding but still alive. 

"I was trying to call 911 and was having a hard time," he said, noting he'd recently gotten a new phone. "I was really panicked. I didn't know what to do… There was a lady that came by in a car and I asked her if she had first aid and she said she was late for an appointment and had to keep going."

Brott later died in hospital. He was 78.

At the time of his death, he was the artistic director of the Hamilton-based National Academy Orchestra of Canada and Brott Music Festival, as well as the Orchestre classique de Montréal, based in his hometown. He was also the former conductor of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra for more than two decades.

He left behind his wife Ardyth Webster Brott and three adult children. 

Webster Brott and several other family members were present in the Hamilton courtroom on Wednesday.

Defendant Lojovic sat in the plexiglass prisoner's box in an orange jumpsuit, his brown hair slicked back and a thick stubble covering his face.