SIU drops probe of officer who fired at stolen cruiser

The Special Investigations Unit has terminated its investigation into an incident last August when a Peel Regional Police officer fired his gun at a shooting suspect driving a stolen police cruiser.

On Aug. 13, 2019, police were called to a home on Apple Blossom Circle near Mavis Road and Eglinton Avenue at about 2:30 p.m., after reports of a shooting following an argument between a man and a woman.

In a news release Friday, the SIU said an officer located the man and chased him through neighbouring streets and a nearby park. The officer got into a physical altercation with the suspect but wasn’t able to apprehend him. The man then jumped into the officer’s cruiser, which was still running.

Although the officer attempted to use a stun gun to stop the man, the probes missed their mark and the suspect fled in the cruiser. As the car sped away, the officer fired his handgun five times, the SIU said.

The SIU is the arm’s-length provincial agency tasked with investigating police actions that lead to serious injury, death or allegations of sexual assault.

The agency’s mandate was invoked when blood was found in the cruiser after it had been abandoned by the suspect, leading investigators to believe that the man was seriously injured.

Peel police arrested a suspect on Nov. 14, 2019. After the SIU determined that none of the officer’s bullets hit the man, the agency discontinued its investigation.

“The blood in the cruiser was the result of a cut to the man’s arm inflicted in the domestic incident that had prompted the call to police that same day. Accordingly, as the SIU’s jurisdiction is not engaged, the investigation is hereby discontinued, and the file is closed,” said SIU director Joseph Martino in a news release.

Michael Cleghorn, of no fixed address, was charged with attempted murder, assault, two counts of theft of motor vehicle and multiple firearm offences.