The death of a Strathroy man on Thanksgiving 2021, is heading to the financial courts as well as the family of Johannes (Iwan) Smolders who was killed in an alleged hit-and-run has issued a $5.25-million lawsuit against 51-year-old Fredrick Earhart of Dashwood who was arrested and charged in the incident.
The claim says “Smolders, 45, was cycling west on Calvert Drive, southwest of Strathroy, around 9 p.m. when a vehicle travelling in the same direction suddenly and without warning . . . violently struck him.”
The lawsuit goes on alleging that “Iwan was catapulted off of his bicycle and sustained fatal injuries. Fredrick Earhart fled the scene after hitting Iwan.”
The 10-page suit goes on to detail that there has been emotional suffering from the death experienced by Smolders’ family, and the suit also includes the insurance company for Smolders being Strathroy’s HT&C Mutual Insurance Company who are listed as a defendant, with the claim alleging that his policy included conditions that covered underinsured, uninsured, and unidentified motorists.
Earhart is scheduled to appear in a London court at the end of May and he has not entered a plea in the case.