Man pleads guilty in fatal bus-stop crash in Squamish, B.C.

The deadly crash happened before midnight on Sept. 2, when the driver of a 1999 Ford F250 came around the corner of Pemberton Avenue at Cleveland Avenue, lost control, flipped the pickup truck, and pinned two women underneath. (CTV)

A British Columbia man has pleaded guilty to six charges, including impaired driving causing death, after a woman was struck and killed in a hit-and-run crash at a bus stop in Squamish more than two years ago.

John Cernos, born in 1985, appeared in North Vancouver provincial court on Jan. 23, where he pleaded guilty to one count each of impaired driving causing bodily harm, impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving, dangerous driving causing death, failure to remain at the scene of a collision and failure to remain at the scene of a collision causing death, according to court records.

Cernos, a resident of Squamish, was arrested in November 2023, approximately 14 months after the deadly crash at the downtown bus stop.

Gurpreet Sangha and another woman were waiting for a bus at 11:25 p.m. on Sept. 2, 2022, when a white Ford F250 pickup truck rounded a corner, lost control and rolled on top of them near the intersection of Pemberton and Cleveland avenues.

Both women were pinned underneath the vehicle. Witnesses rushed to lift the truck off the victims and help the driver from the wreckage.

Mounties said that while the bystanders were tending to the injured women, the driver ran from the scene.

Sangha died in hospital two weeks later, while the second woman, who has not been publicly identified by police, was released from hospital with life-altering injuries.

“This tragic incident had a significant impact on family, friends and the community as a whole,” Staff- Sgt. Gareth Bradley said in a statement Thursday.

“This outcome reflects the commitment of our investigators in seeking justice, and we hope that it provides a sense of closure and accountability to those affected.”

Cernos is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing on June 10.