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Niagara Falls
Thursday, February 6, 2025
Chemerika family ‘devastated’ by ‘preventable’ death of father, court told
Nestor Chemerika, 84, a longtime Niagara-on-the-Lake resident, died 12 days after he was struck from behind along the shoulder of East and West Line while riding his bicycle on July 13, 2023.

Even into his 80s, Nestor Chemerika prided himself on staying fit and in shape, walking and cycling regularly, his family said in victim impact statements presented in a St. Catharines courtroom on Monday.

Chemerika, 84, a longtime Niagara-on-the-Lake resident, died 12 days after he was struck from behind along the shoulder of East and West Line while riding his bicycle on July 13, 2023.

Richard Alan Moore, 38, a Niagara Falls-based contractor, has pleaded guilty to a Criminal Code charge of failing to stop at an accident causing death. A lesser charge of careless driving causing death was dropped.

His GMC Sierra pickup truck hit Chemerika near Concession 2 around 8 p.m. on that summer evening, knocking him into the roadside ditch, where he was found a short time later by a Niagara Regional Police officer on a routine patrol.

His crumpled bike was nearby and debris from the truck was strewn on the road. One of the truck’s large external mirrors was found at the scene.

Chemerika was still alive when the police found him, assistant Crown attorney Todd Morris told the court.

Moore did not stop nor render assistance and he told police he didn’t know he had been involved in an accident, court heard.

Nearly two years later, his family is still seeking answers — and closure.

“On July 13, 2023, Richard Alan Moore dramatically changed our lives forever. Seeing my dad in the hospital, so helpless and terrified, broke my heart. There wasn’t a spot in his body that wasn’t cut, bruised or broken,” his daughter Dennise Falzoi said in a statement read to the court Monday morning by Morris.

“I can’t imagine and understand how Richard Alan Moore could just drive away and try and hide what he did and continue on with his life, like nothing happened. It’s mind boggling,” she wrote.

She, her brother Nestor Jr. and her father’s brother Walter said Chemerika was passionate about staying in top physical condition, going for daily walks, jogs and bike rides.

“Our father endured so much pain and suffering while in the hospital as a result of his injury. His body was so broken and damaged,” the family’s victim impact statements said.

“It was absolute torture and emotionally crippling watching him slowly slip away … the fear and sorrow in his eyes, not being able to communicate during the last days and hours” as he lay in hospital in Hamilton.

“This whole ordeal is incredibly horrific and devastating for all of our family members and the community,” they added.

“Our father had plenty of years left to live, as his brothers and sisters all lived well into their 90s. This truly devastated everyone, especially his three children and all his grandchildren.”

“Our father was a pillar of the NOTL community, where he lived for over 55 years,” they added.

After the tragedy, friends and neighbours came to Chemerika’s house “literally in tears, hugging us children, telling us of their devastation” over his death.

“We all continue to experience great sorrow, anger, confusion, devastation, PTSD, scarred for life, for this senseless, preventable loss of life.”

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t talk or think about my dad. I have a hole in my heart that can never be filled.”

In the aftermath of the crash, investigators told The Lake Report that the vehicle headed south down Concession 2 to York Road, where it turned west toward St. Davids.

Once in St. Davids, the pickup turned down Four Mile Creek Road and headed to Niagara Falls.

Police seized a pewter-coloured 1999 Sierra pickup in Niagara Falls six days later.

A police statement about the seized vehicle said at the time, “Detectives noted that the damaged areas had recently undergone repair.”

The truck was repaired with used GMC auto parts, including a used grill, passenger-side headlights and a passenger-side mirror, police said.

After it was seized, the pickup truck was sent to the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto for a detailed forensic examination.

Three months later, in October 2023, Moore was charged by police.

The sentencing hearing will resume May 1 at 10 a.m. in person before Superior Court Justice Michael Gibson.

The Crown is seeking a 12-month jail sentence and a five-year driving ban.

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