Joseph Pratt had been driving around for hours looking for his wife.

That’s when he found a CTV News crew reporting on a devastating vehicle collision on Dunning and Beaton Rd., Sunday morning.

Ottawa Police would later escort Pratt into a cruiser and tell him one of the drivers in the crash was Janet Clermont, 54, his common-law partner of 13 years. She succumbed to her injuries.

Ottawa police say at 7:40am, Sunday morning, an Infiniti G35 was heading east-bound on Innis Rd when it failed to stop at a stop sign. Police say it narrowly missed one vehicle before hitting a Chrysler Sebring heading north on Dunning Rd.

Ottawa Police have charged Wassim Outifrakh, 24, with:

  • Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death
  • Impaired driving causing death
  • Exceeds 80mg blood alcohol content motor vehicle causing accident with fatality.

Outifrakh was formally charged at the Ottawa courthouse, today.

Pratt is asking for privacy during this time of loss. Still, neighbours of the couple are devastated by the news.

“It's a shock. And I'm close to Joe and I'll have to talk to Joe. And I know it's going to hurt because I lost a wife myself,” says neighbour Conrad Perron.

Perron says the couple recently bought motorcycles and enjoyed riding together.

People who live around the scene of the crash say the intersection is deadly.

“Yup, it's really bad. They should put four-way stops or red lights,” says Louise Periard.

With a report from CTV’s John Hua and Claudia Cautillo.