City officer cleared in police chase collision
The province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has concluded that charges are not warranted after a city police officer chased an SUV along Water St. until it collided with another vehicle, resulting in serious injury for the second vehicle’s driver.
The SIU released a ruling on Wednesday, nearly a year after the incident from Jan. 13, 2018.
The ruling describes the incident in detail.
At about 7:20 a.m. that Saturday, a police officer in a cruiser watched a motorist in a white Mercedes SUV, parked facing south along George St., make a U-turn to travel north — in the wrong direction — along George St.
The officer activated his emergency lights and sirens and pursued the SUV, states the ruling, but the SUV didn’t stop.
The SUV turned east on Charlotte St., then north along Water St., states the ruling.
It was going fast: two other officers who saw the SUV zoom past the police station on Water St. estimated it was going at least 100 km/h, the ruling states.
That’s more than twice the speed limit — the ruling states that the 12-block pursuit was over in just 21 seconds.
The two officers who saw the SUV go past the police station were parked in cruisers; they joined the pursuit, states the ruling, resulting in three cruisers giving chase.
The pursuit continued north along Water St. to Parkhill Rd., the ruling states, where a motorist was proceeding through the intersection of Parkhill Rd. and Water St.
As the driver was halfway through the intersection, the ruling states, the SUV ran a red light and collided with her vehicle.
The SUV pulled over in a nearby parking lot following the crash, the ruling states; the driver then got out of the SUV and ran away, to be chased on foot for two blocks by an officer.
When he was caught by the officer, the ruling states, the driver said: “I’m sorry, I was drinking last night and scared. I have been in trouble before.”
The driver was arrested for impaired driving, the ruling states.
A year ago, The Examiner reported that the driver, a 21year-old man, and his passenger, also a 21-year-old man, were uninjured.
Meanwhile the driver of the other vehicle, a 55-year-old woman, suffered a fractured knee, according to the ruling.
The case was referred to the SIU and two investigators were assigned.
Tony Loparco, director of the SIU, wrote in his ruling that there are no reasonable grounds to lay a criminal charge against the officer.
Loparco found that the officer’s pursuit didn’t constitute dangerous driving, as the officer was trying to pull over a driver going the wrong way down George St.
Loparco writes that the officer is not to blame: it was the SUV driver’s decision to drive “erratically” and “possibly while intoxicated,” he writes, that caused the crash.
The SIU is an arm’s-length agency that investigates cases of death, serious injury or sexual assault that occur during interactions with police. SIU reports do not include the suspect officer’s name unless charges are filed.
The officer declined to be interviewed for the SIU’s probe.
The full ruling can be read at www.siu.on.ca/en/directors_ report_details.php?drid=131.