Officer cleared in crash that killed U of G grad
SIU determines officer pursuing car was not lawfully culpable
GUELPH — The province’s Special Investigations Unit says a provincial police officer won’t be facing charges arising from an incident in Guelph in which a pedestrian was struck and killed by a vehicle the officer was pursuing.
The police watchdog agency says the OPP and city police had set up a RIDE spot check in Guelph early on Dec. 13, 2015, and the officer pursued an SUV that accelerated through the spot check. The SIU says that the driver of the SUV, estimated to be travelling in excess of 115 km/h, lost control at a five-way intersection, mounted the sidewalk, struck a utility pole, flipped onto its roof and slid along the sidewalk and roadway. The SUV struck 24-year-old Grace Glofcheskie, who had been walking on the sidewalk, and she died of her injuries in hospital. Glofcheskie was a native of Arnprior, near Ottawa, who had recently graduated from the University of Guelph.
The SIU says the majority of the pursuit occurred in a largely commercial area devoid of foot traffic and the officer was slowing down and backing off before reaching the intersection.
SIU director Tony Loparco says the evidence doesn’t supply reasonable grounds to believe that the officer is criminally culpable for Glofcheskie’s tragic
death, and no charges will be laid.
“The subject officer’s driving was objectively dangerous,” Loparco said Thursday. “He was travelling at speeds in excess of 68 km over the speed limit, in a commercial-residential area.”
However, the pursuit — which lasted approximately 40 seconds over a distance of 1.2 kilometres — occurred at approximately 2:30 a.m. when the four-lane road was almost empty, he said.
A Guelph police officer who saw the pursuit noted that the man did not slow down as he reached the intersection, but that the OPP officer did, Loparco said. The Guelph man driving the SUV, Curtis Henri, 21 at the time of the crash, pleaded guilty to seven charges relating to the fatality, including criminal negligence causing death, in July 2016. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.