Regina man accused of running red light in bus shelter crash says light was green

A truck driver accused of ignoring a stoplight and causing a chain reaction crash in Regina that killed a woman in a bus shelter told police he thought the light was green.

Biniam Emaha made the comment in an interview with an officer hours after the October 2025 crash. 

A video of the interview was presented in court Tuesday at his trial.

"It was green," Emaha tells the officer just after 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 12, four hours after the crash. 

"I hit that car and I lost my control and I swerved to the right. There was a bus station right on the corner and I hit that.

"There was somebody." 

The 45-year-old is charged with dangerous driving causing death in the crash, which saw his truck hit another vehicle before bouncing off and smashing into the bus shelter.

Marvellous Ugochukwu, 19, was in the shelter and died of blunt force trauma to the head.

In the video, Emaha speaks softly when he tells the officer about smashing into the bus shelter. His arms are crossed and his head is down. 

"It's tough," the officer tells him.

Emaha had told the officer he had moved to Regina from Africa in 2023. He's from Eritrea and came to Canada with his wife and two children. 

He said he began delivery contract work with the Saskatchewan Health Authority in 2024. On the day of the crash, he was taking supplies from one hospital to another.

The collision happened in rainy conditions at the intersection of Elphinstone Street and Dewdney Avenue. Emaha had told the officer he was driving 50 km/h.

Another driver that day said he was going through the intersection on a green light when Emaha’s truck hit him from the side.

Elijah Stonechild, 23, testified Monday that as he began driving through intersection, he looked right and saw the truck driving straight toward him.

"All I could do was brace," he told court.

Photos of Stonechild’s car presented in court show the passenger side was crumpled and one headlight had popped out. 

Another driver, Camryn Lehne, was also travelling near the intersection that day.

She testified she was preparing to stop at the intersection because her light was red. Her vehicle was opposite Emaha's, and she told court she assumed his light was also red. 

At trial on Tuesday, details of how the lights functioned at the intersection were also heard. 

Michael Brodt, a traffic signal systems analyst with the City of Regina, testified there is no scenario where all green lights at the intersection would be on at the same time. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2026.

By Jeremy Simes | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.