SIU clears Hamilton police in 3 cases, including fatal 2016 crash

Ontario’s police watchdog has cleared Hamilton police of any wrongdoing in three cases since September 2016.

Special Investigations Unit director Tony Loparco issued the decisions on Wednesday exonerating the officers involved.

In a collision on Dec. 17, 2017, in which a 44-year-old woman suffered a cracked shoulder blade, police had tried to stop a stolen car that sped off on Upper Centennial Parkway and Rymal Road.

When the man began driving erratically, and speeding up to 120 km/h, the officer turned off his emergency lights and followed at a distance, the SIU found.

The driver then ran a red light at Rymal Road East and Whitedeer Road in Stoney Creek and struck a vehicle driven by the woman who was injured.

Loparco concluded the officer was not in pursuit, did not create a danger to other drivers and behaved professionally, prudently, and with good common sense.

“I cannot find any criticism of the subject officer’s actions and as such, find there is absolutely no basis here for the laying of criminal charges,” he concluded.

In an April 2, 2017 arrest in which a 40-year-old man suffered a fractured nose, police had pinned him to the floor upon answering a 911 call about a disturbance in the apartment of a woman the man was separated from.

She had asked him to leave but he refused.

The man was intoxicated, violent and hostile toward police, Loparco said. When he appeared about to strike the woman, an officer “took him down to the floor.” The man fell face first, “making no attempt to break his fall with his free arm,” Loparco said.

The man was arrested and taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a nasal bone fracture and an upper lip laceration. Loparco concluded that other than “grounding” the man, “there is no allegation by anyone that any other force was used.”

Hamilton police were also exonerated in the death of a 19-year-old motorcyclist on Sept. 3, 2016.

The cyclist died after running a red light and colliding with a pickup truck at Main Street West and James Street South in downtown Hamilton.

Two officers in a parked, marked cruiser had earlier seen the motorcycle in their rear-view mirror doing a “wheelie.” They pulled in behind the bike after it passed and although it quickly accelerated and had no licence plates, they did not start a pursuit.

Loparco found the officers did not cause the cyclist to speed and “given that he knew that a police cruiser was behind him” and he had “every opportunity to desist from his reckless driving, at no point did he do so.”

Loparco found there was no police pursuit and at no point did the officers signal to the motorcyclist to stop — and subsequently there are no grounds for charges against the officers.

The SIU investigates all deaths and serious injuries or allegations of sexual assault involving police officers.