Director's Report Details

The Special Investigations Unit is a civilian law enforcement agency that investigates incidents involving police officers where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault. The Unit’s jurisdiction covers more than 50 municipal, regional and provincial police services across Ontario.

Under the Police Services Act, the Director of the SIU must determine based on the evidence gathered in an investigation whether an officer has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation. If, after an investigation, there are reasonable grounds to believe that an offence was committed, the Director has the authority to lay a criminal charge against the officer. Alternatively, in all cases where no reasonable grounds exist, the Director does not lay criminal charges but files a report with the Attorney General communicating the results of an investigation.

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“FIPPA”)

Pursuant to section 14 of FIPPA (i.e., law enforcement), certain information may not be included in this report. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Confidential investigative techniques and procedures used by law enforcement agencies; and
• Information whose release could reasonably be expected to interfere with a law enforcement matter or an investigation undertaken with a view to a law enforcement proceeding. 

Pursuant to section 21 of FIPPA (i.e., personal privacy), protected personal information is not included in this document. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Subject Officer name(s);
• Witness Officer name(s);
• Civilian Witness name(s);
• Location information; 
• Witness statements and evidence gathered in the course of the investigation provided to the SIU in confidence; and 
• Other identifiers which are likely to reveal personal information about individuals involved in the investigation.

Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (“PHIPA”)

Pursuant to PHIPA, any information related to the personal health of identifiable individuals is not included.

Other proceedings, processes, and investigations

Information may have also been excluded from this report because its release could undermine the integrity of other proceedings involving the same incident, such as criminal proceedings, coroner’s inquests, other public proceedings and/or other law enforcement investigations.

The Unit’s investigative jurisdiction is limited to those incidents where there is a serious injury (including sexual assault allegations) or death in cases involving the police.

“Serious injuries” shall include those that are likely to interfere with the health or comfort of the victim and are more than merely transient or trifling in nature and will include serious injury resulting from sexual assault. “Serious Injury” shall initially be presumed when the victim is admitted to hospital, suffers a fracture to a limb, rib or vertebrae or to the skull, suffers burns to a major portion of the body or loses any portion of the body or suffers loss of vision or hearing, or alleges sexual assault. Where a prolonged delay is likely before the seriousness of the injury can be assessed, the Unit should be notified so that it can monitor the situation and decide on the extent of its involvement.

This report relates to the SIU’s investigation into serious injuries sustained by a 48-year-old man (the “Complainant”).

Notification of the SIU

On July 24, 2020, at 5:57 p.m., the Toronto Police Service (TPS) contacted the SIU and reported an injury to the Complainant.

The TPS advised that on Friday, July 24, 2020, at about 4:00 p.m., a TPS police officer was doing static radar on Kingston Road standing on the side of the road. The police officer observed a speeding vehicle and stepped out into traffic to wave the vehicle over. The first vehicle was able to stop at the last second, as did the vehicle behind it. However, a motorcycle behind the second vehicle did not stop in time and collided into the back of the second vehicle. The motorcyclist was thrown from the motorcycle and rolled into oncoming traffic, where he was struck by a vehicle. The motorcyclist suffered a compound fracture to one of his legs. He was taken to St. Michael’s Hospital (SMH) by Toronto Paramedic Services. The scene was being held by TPS, and TPS identification and a reconstructionist were on scene awaiting the SIU’s arrival.

The Scene

On July 24, 2020, at 8:15 p.m., the lead SIU Forensic Investigator arrived at the scene of the incident on Kingston Road, west of Lakehurst Drive. The scene was photographed. An SIU collision reconstructionist performed a scene analysis and scene measurements were taken.

In the area of this collision, Kingston Road was a four-lane paved asphalt road, which permitted two lanes of eastbound and two lanes of westbound vehicular movement. The opposing lanes were delineated by a concrete median, which was 4.9 metres wide. The lanes which permitted travel in the same direction were delineated with intermittent white paint marks. The posted speed limit on Kingston Road was 50 km/h.

It was a warm clear day and visibility was good.

Scene Diagram

Physical / Forensic Evidence

A white Chevrolet Malibu was stopped in the curb lane of the eastbound lanes of Kingston Road, just west of Lakehurst Drive. The approximate centre of mass of the Malibu was located 14.7 metres west of the east edge of the pavement of Lakehurst Drive and 1.2 metres north of the south edge of the pavement of Kingston Road. The Malibu was undamaged.

A black, 2019 Ford Ranger was stopped behind the Malibu. The Ranger had damage to the driver’s side, rear corner. The approximate centre of mass of the Ranger was located 25.8 metres west of the east edge of the pavement of Lakehurst Drive and 1.7 metres north of the south edge of the pavement of Kingston Road. Several attempts were made by SIU Forensic Investigators and the TPS police officers to download the Airbag Control Module; however, no download was achieved as the module (manufactured by Bosch) was not supported by the crash data recorder tool.


Figure 1 - The rear, driver-side damage to the Ford.

The following scenario emerges from the evidence collected by the SIU, which included interviews with the Complainant and other motorists who were part of or witnessed the events in question. As was his legal right, the SO declined to interview with the SIU or release a copy of his incident notes.

In the afternoon of July 24, 2020, the SO was on foot in the area of the southwest corner of the intersection of Kingston Road and Lakehurst Drive. He was performing speed enforcement with a handheld speed measurement device. At about 3:50 p.m., the officer clocked a white Malibu exceeding the 50 km/h speed limit. Deciding to pull the vehicle over to issue a speeding ticket, the SO stepped onto the roadway and signaled at the driver to pull over and stop.

The Malibu brought his vehicle to a stop, which forced the vehicle behind him – a black pickup truck driven by CW #2 – to brake hard to prevent an impact with the rear of the Malibu. As he did so, the Complainant, operating a motorcycle behind the truck, unsuccessfully attempted to maneuver around the rear driver’s side corner of the vehicle to avoid a collision. His motorcycle struck the rear of the truck sending him and his motorcycle into the passing lane where the vehicle was again struck by an eastbound Mazda.

Following the collision, the SO went to check on the motorcyclist and requested an ambulance. Paramedics arrived at the scene and took the Complainant to hospital where he was diagnosed with several facial fractures and fractures of the right leg.

Sections 219 and 221, Criminal Code -- Criminal negligence causing bodily harm

(a) in doing anything, or

(b) in omitting to do anything that it is his duty to do,

221 Every one who by criminal negligence causes bodily harm to another person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years

On July 24, 2020, the Complainant was seriously injured when his motorcycle collided with a pickup truck on Kingston Road, Toronto. The pickup truck had come to a sudden stop behind another vehicle, which too had braked hard in response to an officer who had signaled its driver to pull over and stop. The officer – the SO - was conducting speed enforcement with a speed measurement device. He was identified as the subject officer for purposes of the SIU investigation. On my assessment of the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the SO committed a criminal offence in connection with the Complainant’s injuries.

The offence that arises for consideration is criminal negligence causing bodily harm contrary to section 221 of the Criminal Code. The offence is predicated, in part, on conduct that amounts to a marked and substantial departure from the level of care that a reasonable person would have exercised in the circumstances. In the instant case, the issue is whether the SO stepped out into the roadway to perform a traffic stop with a reasonable level of care and, if not, whether the officer was so remiss in his conduct as to attract criminal sanction. In my view, there is insufficient evidence to reasonably conclude that any transgressions on the part of the SO fell afoul of the criminal law.

For starters, I am satisfied on reasonable grounds that the SO was in the lawful discharge of his duties when he decided to stop the Malibu for a speeding infraction. Thereafter, despite what appears to have been a late stop signal directed at CW #1, the driver of the Malibu, the evidence falls short of establishing any criminal negligence on the part of the SO in the performance of his duty. While the SO may have been very close to the Malibu when he first stepped onto the roadway, the fact remains that both CW #1 and CW #2 had seen the officer and were able to come to safe, albeit quick, stops. As for why the Complainant was not similarly able to bring his vehicle to a stop, the answer appears to have had something to do with less than careful driving on his part. Thus, there is some evidence that the Complainant was weaving in and out of the curb and passing lanes on the approach to Lakehurst Drive, and riding the “line”, that is, cradling the lanes. On this record, while it might have been that the SO ought to have allowed for a greater stopping distance before signaling traffic to pull over, his failure to do was something less than a marked and substantial deviation from a reasonable level of care in the circumstances.

In the result, while I accept that the SO’s conduct set in train a series of events that resulted in injuries to the Complainant, I am satisfied that the officer comported himself within the limits of care prescribed by the criminal law. Accordingly, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case and the file is closed.


Date: January 25, 2021

Electronically approved by

Joseph Martino
Director
Special Investigations Unit