‘It was just all of a sudden’: Truck driver recounts Winnipeg officer’s deadly crash

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This article was published 04/10/2016 (3304 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He didn’t have time to react when it happened, but the image of the crash that killed a troubled Winnipeg police officer remains clear in Rob Morgan’s mind.

The 46-year-old truck driver can still see Const. Trent Milan’s black pickup truck swerving toward him and flipping on impact, its undercarriage hurtling through the air mere inches away, taking out his windshield and his driver’s door before bursting into flames.

Morgan had been sipping coffee and driving along his regular daily route on Monday morning, hauling sand for cement mix to Oak Bluff, when the oncoming pickup truck suddenly swerved into his lane on Garven Road, just outside the city around 11:30 a.m.

“He gave me about a second’s notice,” Morgan said Tuesday, the day after the crash that killed Milan and left the 10-year veteran truck driver with minor injuries – and major questions.

“Just the way it happened, I thought either the guy was sick, had a heart attack… or it was on purpose, because there was no warning. He didn’t slowly drift over or nothing like that. It was just all of a sudden, he was there. It was so weird,” he recalled.

“That’s my only thought, too, is why did he pick me, you know?”

An 18-year member of the Winnipeg Police Service, 42-year-old Milan was pronounced dead at the scene. It’s unclear whether the crash was an accident or whether it was deliberate on Milan’s part. Manitoba RCMP said Tuesday a traffic analyst was still investigating.

Officer was facing further charges

The crash happened two weeks after Milan was charged with 34 criminal offences and accused of stealing the illegal drugs and weapons police had seized as evidence. And more drug charges were pending against him.

At the time of his death, Milan was awaiting his first court appearance on charges including breach of trust, theft over $5,000, possession of dangerous weapons and possession of various drugs for the purpose of trafficking. Additional, related drug charges were pending against him, awaiting lab results from tests on substances found during the police raid of his Oakbank home, Crown prosecutor Jim Ross said.

All of the charges against Milan will be stayed in court as a result of his sudden death.

“It’s a very sad, very tragic case,” Ross said.

Milan’s defence lawyer, Hymie Weinstein, said he’d previously spoken to his client about the case, but was still awaiting disclosure of all of the relevant documents when he heard about the crash.

“I wasn’t surprised, I was shocked when I got the call,” he said.

Milan will never get his day in court, and the allegations against him haven’t been proven.

‘This is a tragedy’

It’s important to remember that, said Winnipeg Police Association vice-president George Van Mackelbergh.

“At the end of the day, this is a tragedy what has happened. And everybody has jumped to conclusions. I would simply say this: Trent was facing a number of allegations. Nothing had been proved. They were simply allegations,” Van Mackelbergh said.

The circumstances surrounding Milan’s death “(make) no difference to me whatsoever. It’s a tragedy and that’s all it is. We give our member the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise, and it’s a tragedy that our member was involved in this motor vehicle collision. It’s a tragedy that he’s dead and it’s gotta be tough on the other person involved. Our heart goes out to everybody,” he added.

For his part, Morgan expressed concern for Milan’s family. He’s sore and bruised, but said he hopes to be back at work in a couple of weeks – though he may take a different route. For now, he plans to return to the crash scene with his family, looking for closure.

“I’m trying to move on,” he said.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay