durhamregion.com This Week | Thursday, March 24, 2022 | 10 Over 90 years of Service to our Community We offer Modern Amenities Together with Timeless Values of Trust and Caring Service. 110 Dundas Street E.,Whitby 905-668-3410 wctownfuneralchapel.com A Whitby man faces a criminal charge after a crash that claimed the life of a man in Northumberland Township. Officers responded to a single-vehicle crash in the area of Wright Road and County Road 10 near Port Hope around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, March 19, OPP said. Pronounced dead at the scene was 32-year-old Daniel Nicholas Thomson, of Campbellcroft. An investigation led to the arrest of Mathieu Richard, 31, of Whitby on a charge of impaired driving causing death. He is scheduled to appear in court in Cobourg April 6. WHITBY MAN CHARGED AFTER FATAL CRASH An 11-year-old boy was at the wheel of a car that reached 150 km/h as it sped through the streets of Whitby and crashed into fences Sunday, March 20, according to police. There were no injuries but plenty of property damage as a result of the incident, which began as a call about a suspicious driver at a gas station at Taunton and Thickson Roads around 6:30 p.m., Durham police said. Officers were on their way to the address of the vehicle's registered owner when the suspect car flew by at about 150 km/h on Anderson Street, police said. Officers quickly pulled a U-turn and pursued the car. The vehicle turned onto Fawcett Avenue in north Whitby where it went out of control, smashing through a fence and entering a backyard, police said. The vehicle returned to the roadway and narrowly missed colliding head-on with a cruiser. As more officers arrived in cruisers, the car was eventually "pinned" and forced to stop, but not before it smashed through another fence, according to police. Inside the car, cops found an 11-year-old in the driver's seat and a 12-year-old in the passenger seat, police said. The boys were released to their parents. There were no injuries, but a police cruiser and the Hyundai vehicle involved sustained damage and property damage, police said. SPEEDING CAR IN WHITBY PURSUIT DRIVEN BY 11-YEAR-OLD BOY JEFF MITCHELL jmitchell@durhamregion.com Firefighters were assisted by workers at Gerdau Whitby as they battled a large outdoor fire at the plant Thursday night, March 18. Firefighters took a "defensive" approach to the blaze -- which erupted amid a quantity of recycled metal outside the south Whitby plant -- using aerial equipment to douse the fire, Acting Deputy Chief Mike Tucker said. "We were called to a fire shortly after 10 p.m. and quickly upgraded to a third alarm due to the size of the fire," Tucker said. The fire was outside the main plant but in proximity to outbuildings, he said. Firefighters deployed aerial equipment to attack flames as Gerdau employees in heavy equipment pulled scrap away, Tucker said. Gerdau workers also supplied flame retardant foam to battle the fire. "The staff there were excellent in helping us out," Tucker said. No injuries were reported as a result of the incident. FIREFIGHTERS, WORKERS TEAM UP TO BATTLE BLAZE AT GERDAU NEWS NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED JEFF MITCHELL jmitchell@durhamregion.com Whitby Fire photo Firefighters worked with employees at the Gerdau Whitby plant to battle a large outdoor fire Thursday, March 18. Whitby Fire/Twitter photo