SIU investigating ‘devastating’ crash
Waterloo police say they were in pursuit of vehicle linked to possible assault, abduction
HAMILTON— Waterloo Region police say they were pursuing a vehicle connected to a possible abduction and assault when it crashed head-on with a transport truck, killing the man driving and the woman in a passenger seat on Highway 6.
Police received the report of a possible abduction and assault of a woman in Cambridge around 9:30 a.m. Thursday and soon found the vehicle, Insp. Mike Haffner said.
Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver refused and “a pursuit was initiated,” he said.
Shortly before 10 a.m., the vehicle crashed head-on with an oncoming transport truck on Highway 6 between Concession 10 and Concession 11 in Flamborough.
The driver of the transport truck and Waterloo police at the scene were not injured. But the unidentified man and woman in the vehicle were killed instantly.
“This is an absolutely devastating collision — massive amounts of damage, trauma and debris all across the highway,” Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said.
The twisted metal debris from the vehicle could be seen scattered across the road, with a piece embedded in the tractor trailer.
OPP highway safety division collision reconstruction team is investigating the crash. Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, is investigating the role Waterloo Region police played.
SIU spokesperson Monica Hudon said its investigators understand that Waterloo police were responding to a possible assault when officers attempted to stop a vehicle on King St. E. in Cambridge.
The driver refused to stop and the vehicle fled, driving east on Highway 401 and then south on Highway 6 before crashing.
Hudon’s story differed from the version offered by Waterloo police in that she didn’t use the words abduction or pursuit.
When asked, she said it’s not yet clear to the SIU whether either happened.
Hudon also said she couldn’t comment on the identities of those killed or the number of Waterloo officers involved.
Hamilton firefighters also put out a small fire that erupted in the transport truck at the time of the crash.
“It’s very severe and tragic,” fire department spokesperson Claudio Mostacci said.