A man accused of running over a Toronto police officer is testifying in a homicide trial

TORONTO – A man accused of running over a Toronto police officer nearly three years ago described walking downtown with his pregnant wife and young son during his trial Tuesday in her death.

Omar Zamir began giving his account of the events that led to the death of Det. Const. Jeffrey Northrup on July 2, 2021.

Zamir, who was 31 at the time, said he and his wife, Aida Shaikh, and two-year-old son arrived in downtown Toronto on the evening of July 1, 2021, from their home in Woodbridge, Ont. Celebrating Canada Day.

They parked in a garage below Toronto City Hall, drove to Yonge Dundas Square and eventually took a different route back to City Hall grounds, he said.

At one point, the family crossed paths with a man who had been stabbed, he told the court. Later, police and paramedics saw someone on a stretcher and wondered if it was the same person they had seen, Zamir said. He and his wife then decided to call it a night and went back to the car, he said.

Zamir has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Northrup's death. An officer died after being hit by a car in an underground car park just after midnight.

Prosecutors allege that Zamir caused Northrup's death by making several maneuvers with his car while officers were nearby.

The defense says the officer's death was a tragedy, but not a crime. They say neither Zamir nor his wife knew Northrup and his plainclothes partner were police officers.

The court heard officers were among those investigating the stabbing of a man witnessed by Zamir and his family. They entered the parking lot to look for evidence. Jurors were told that Zamir was not involved in the stabbing.

Earlier Tuesday, jurors heard from a crash reconstructionist called as an expert by the defense.

Barry Raftery was cross-examined by prosecutors regarding his findings regarding the movement of Zamir's vehicle, Northrup's position and the location of the impact.

Although security cameras didn't capture everything that night, Raftery said existing video and physical evidence allowed him to map the vehicle's path and narrow down the areas where Northrup was at certain key moments.

Raftery testified Monday that evidence from the scene and Zamir's car show that the contact, who “looked” at Northrup as the car went into reverse, lost his balance and was on the ground when it ran over him.

He pointed to dust damage to the front fairing as evidence of that contact, and the fender and hood were intact, which Northrup had not run over while standing.

The court heard Northrup was more than six feet tall and weighed nearly 300 pounds.

A crash reconstruction expert called by the Crown previously concluded that Northrup was knocked to the ground and crushed by the car while reversing.

On Tuesday, the prosecution asked Raftery about the mark in the dust on the fence, suggesting it may have been made by at least two other people, including Zamir, and that there was no way to know when it appeared.

Raftery agreed, but said the “most reasonable conclusion” was that it was the result of Northrup being run over by Zamir's car.

Crown prosecutor Michael Cantlon suggested Northrup may not have fallen after the contact and instead may have returned to his seat, but Raftery rejected that suggestion.

“We know it hit the ground,” he said, because an object believed to be Northrup's body can be seen on surveillance video in front of the car. Northrup cannot be seen anywhere else in the video, he said.

Cantlon also asked if Northrup would be able to get back up if he fell to the ground, but Raftery said it would be unfair to expect anyone to be able to get back up in the two to three seconds between contact with the fence and that. the moment the officer was overwhelmed.

The video features a semi-obstructed view of the car as it first moves forward in a parking space, then reverses, and finally corrects and continues forward in the lane toward the exit.

The court session will continue on Thursday.

This Canadian Press report was first published on April 9, 2024.

Paola Lorijo, Canadian Press