Officer describes arriving to 'chaotic' scene on night Tristan Roby was hurt

A London police officer testified Thursday that he arrived to a "chaotic scene" while responding to an emergency call on the night cyclist Tristan Roby suffered life-altering injuries after he was struck by a vehicle.

Const. Tyler Bollman told the court that on the night of July 21, 2019, he was the first police officer to arrive on the scene at the parking lot of the Casa Blanca motel on Wharncliffe Road South.

When he rolled up in his cruiser, Bollman said he saw two men tussling. 

One was Jonathan Fraser, who earlier testified that he witnessed a silver Nissan Ultima strike a bike on Exeter Road before he followed the suspect car to where it stopped in the motel parking lot around the corner. Fraser, a former Oneida police officer, had told he court he said he saw Jesse Bleck exit the Ultima from the driver side before Bleck and man in the passenger seat fled the scene. 

Bleck, who the Crown alleges was driving that night, is charged with failing to remain at the scene of a collision causing bodily harm. He's also charged with driving while prohibited. 

Bollman testified that when he arrived, Fraser was "having a difficult time" restraining a man identified in court as Trevor Gilders, who Fraser had said in earlier testimony was riding in the back seat of the Nissan.

"The gentlemen [Fraser] was attempting to arrest one of the occupants of the motor vehicle," Bollman told the court. ""He wasn't co-operative and trying to get away."

Bollman said based on information from the dispatcher and from Fraser, he handcuffed Gilders and placed him in "investigative detention" in the back of his police cruiser. Bollman said he then went through Gilder's backpack, finding an iPhone inside that was "buzzing non-stop." 

The court heard that Bollman was able to see on the phone's screen names of incoming callers and messages, even though the phone was never unlocked. The phone received a handful of text messages and 22 incoming calls from a caller the phone identified is "L'll mo pete2."

The court heard that Gilders was later released "unconditionally" with no charges. It's unclear if he'll be required to testify in a case Crown attorney Artem Orlov said hinges on the central question of who was driving the car that night.

Bollman also said Gilders was "uncooperative" while being interviewed and that he told the office someone named "Ack" had been driving the Nissan. 

The trial being heard by a 12-person jury is expected to continue another two or three weeks. 

Tristan Roby was 17 at the time of the collision and now uses a wheelchair. His mother Abby Roby told CBC News her son has been periodically watching the court proceedings from home via video conference, though he was able to be in court on Tuesday.