Buffalo Sabres forward Ryan O’Reilly has been found not guilty of impaired driving after his trial began Monday in London, Ontario.
O’Reilly, 25, was charged after his vintage green 1951 Chevrolet pick-up truck crashed into a Tim Horton’s in Lucan, Ontario, during the early morning hours of July 9, 2015. Police reported that the driver of the truck left the scene of the accident and that the vehicle and O’Reilly were found a short distance from each other just minutes after the accident. After a breath test was taken that morning, O’Reilly was charged with driving over Canada’s 0.08% legal limit and failing to report the accident.
O’Reilly’s trial had been scheduled for two days but came to an abrupt halt after the first witness, Mary Smith, an employee from Tim Horton’s who was working at the time of the crash, was unable to identify the driver of the truck at the time it struck the restaurant — a necessary element to prove the crime of impaired driving. Jane Sims of the London Free Press tweeted the following, live from court during the trial:
She said she can’t be sure who was driving at that moment.
— Jane Sims (@JaneatLFPress) July 11, 2016
During cross-examination by O’Reilly’s attorney, David Humphrey, Smith referred to the driver of the green truck as the “mystery driver.” Smith also admitted that two days later, she found out through her mother that the driver of the vehicle was O’Reilly.
When pressed, Smith said she didn’t see anyone in the truck after the crash. “It was a mystery driver.”
— Jane Sims (@JaneatLFPress) July 11, 2016
After a brief re-direct examination by prosecutors and a short recess, the case was dismissed. Sims reported that Smith had been the prosecution’s sole identification witness.