Terrorist takedown ends with deal
Strathroy cabbie caught up in explosion settles $1-million lawsuit out of court
A million-dollar lawsuit launched by a taxi driver caught in the middle of a terrorist takedown in Strathroy has been settled, putting a lid on any information about police handling of the incident. The parties in the lawsuit filed a settlement agreement Nov. 8, court documents show.
“It has been settled to the mutual satisfaction of the parties,” is all London lawyer Kevin Egan, representing Strathroy cabbie Terry Duffield, would say about the case. “The RCMP can confirm that the matter has been settled. However, we are not in a position to provide any further comment at this point,” a spokesperson wrote in an email.
The legal action was likely the last chance of the public getting answers to questions about police handling of a situation that nearly killed a citizen. In March, Duffield sued the Attorney General of Canada and the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, the RCMP, OPP, London police and Strathroy-Caradoc police, claiming officers had several chances but failed to keep him out of harm’s way in their fatal shooting of a terrorist Aug. 10, 2016 in Strathroy.
The incident began about 8:30 a.m. that day when the FBI tipped off RCMP about a video in which a masked man vowed to make Canadians pay for fighting ISIL. Canadian authorities identified the man as Aaron Driver, a known ISIL sympathizer living under a peace bond with his sister in Strathroy. Teams of police officers headed to Strathroy about 11 a.m. and surrounded Driver’s house. Authorities warned Via Rail and the Toronto Transit Commission about the possibility of Driver using their services to get into a large city. But they failed to notify Strathroy taxi companies, including Leo’s Taxi, “the local and habitual means of transport for Aaron Driver,” the statement of claim in the lawsuit said. Statements of claim contain allegations not proven in court. That afternoon, police watched Duffield’s cab pull into Driver’s driveway.
They watched as Duffield waited in his cab for Driver to come out, as Driver got a backpack and got into the cab, the lawsuit said.
At no point did police warn Duffield or try to stop him as he drove up, waited and took Driver as a passenger, the lawsuit said. After an explosion inside the cab and the fatal shooting of Driver, police let Duffield make his way home without offering any help for the shock or trauma, the statement of claim says. The violent incident left Duffield with back pain, anxiety, depression and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, his lawsuit said.
At the time, Duffield’s experiences led to calls for a review of how police handled the situation. But one investigation by the OPP and Strathroy-Caradoc police, and another by the Attorney- General of Ontario — all named in the lawsuit — said nothing about the interactions, or lack of, between officers and Duffield.
The two investigations determined the shooting of Driver was legally justified, and answered nothing else.
If Duffield’s civil case had gone to trial, information about the police approach to the situation might have come to light. But the case was settled after seven months and little public legal activity. Civil suits often take years to wind their way through the court, with time allowed for statements of defence, counterclaims, settlement conferences and discovery hearings.
In this case, lawyers for the provincial and federal government filed notices of motion to defend the lawsuit, but filed no actual statements of defence before the settlement was reached.