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 Personal 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 the vehicle injury suffered by a 27-year-old male following a traffic stop on May 30, 2016.

Notification of the SIU

The SIU was notified of the Complainant’s vehicle injury by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) on May 30, 2016 at 7:35 p.m.

The OPP advised that on May 30, 2016 at about 12:40 p.m., the Subject Officer (SO) was riding his police motorcycle when he stopped to inspect a disabled vehicle on the westbound shoulder of the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) at Brant Street, Burlington. As the SO approached the vehicle on foot, three men jumped out and began to run off. One man was arrested by the SO while a second man [later identified as the Complainant] ran onto Brant Street and was struck by a passing motorist. Subsequently, the Complainant attempted to run away and was tackled by a tow truck driver. A third unidentified occupant in the disabled vehicle managed to escape.

The Complainant was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a fracture of the inferior left front bone.

The Team

Number of SIU Investigators assigned: 3

Complainant:

27-year-old male, interviewed, medical records obtained and reviewed

Civilian Witnesses

CW #1 Interviewed

CW #2 Interviewed

Witness Officers

WO #1 Interviewed

WO #2 Not interviewed, but notes received and reviewed

WO #3 Interviewed

WO #4 Not interviewed, but notes received and reviewed

WO #5 Not interviewed, but notes received and reviewed

WO #6 Not interviewed, but notes received and reviewed

Subject Officer

SO Interviewed, but declined to submit notes, as is the subject officer’s legal right.

Communications Recordings and Background Event Chronology

The communication recordings obtained from the OPP revealed the following:

• at 12:40:05 p.m., the SO requested another available police unit to his location as he was dealing with three men and a vehicle stopped on the shoulder of the highway,
• the SO informed the dispatcher that the vehicle had run out of gas and neither of the three men would admit to being the driver and were walking away,
• the SO informed the dispatcher one of the three men was running toward Brant Street,
• the SO reported that two men [one of whom was determined to be the Complainant] were running toward the Best Buy parking lot while he had the third man in custody,
• the SO reported he had lost sight of the two men running in the direction of the Best Buy parking lot,
• at 12:44:30 p.m., the SO informed the dispatcher that a tow truck driver [now determined to be CW #2] had detained the Complainant on Brant Street and they were fighting,
• the SO requested that the dispatcher send an ambulance to the scene because the Complainant had run into the front of a car, and
• at 12:48:22 p.m., WO #1 informed the dispatcher that the Complainant was being treated by paramedics for injuries he suffered from having been struck by a passing motorist.

Materials obtained from Police Service

Upon request the SIU obtained and reviewed the following materials and documents from OPP:

• general occurrence report,
• background event chronology,
• motor vehicle collision report,
• occurrence details,
• occurrence summary, and
• notes of WO #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6.

At around 12:40 p.m., on May 30, 2016, the SO stopped to inspect a disabled truck on the westbound shoulder of the QEW at Brant Street, Burlington. As the SO approached the vehicle, three men exited the truck and walked westbound.

The SO attempted to speak to the men, inquiring about the disabled truck. One of the three men took off running across Brant Street. Shortly after, the SO asked the two remaining men about the keys for the disabled truck. Looking for the keys, the Complainant lifted his shirt before turning away from the SO and running down a grass embankment towards Brant Street heading north. The SO placed the third man under arrest and did not pursue the Complainant.

While running onto Brant Street, the Complainant was struck by CW #1’s vehicle travelling northbound on Brant Street. The Complainant fell to the ground after being struck by the vehicle, then got up and attempted to run again at which point he was stopped and held by CW #2 until the police arrived. The disabled truck was subsequently determined to be reported as stolen.

The Complainant was diagnosed as having a complex left sided fracture of his skull and an extensive oblique fracture line extending across the roof of his brow.

At around 12:40 p.m., May 30, 2016, the Complainant suffered a serious injury when he ran into traffic on Brant Street and was struck by a passing motorist after fleeing from the SO.

Based on reliable evidence collected during the investigation, including statements from the Complainant, the SO and two independent eyewitnesses at or near the collision scene, a clear picture of what occurred has emerged.

On May 30, 2016, the Complainant ran down an embankment on the QEW in Burlington and into traffic on Brant Street. He was struck by an oncoming car and then fell to the ground. He suffered a significant fracture to the frontal bone of his skull.

Prior to the Complainant’s decision to run, the SO had stopped behind a disabled International 5-ton moving truck on the side of the QEW, and had been questioning him and his associates as to its ownership and the location of the keys. For unknown reasons at the time, one of the Complainant’s associates decided to run away at that point. The Complainant decided to run as well. The SO remained beside the disabled moving truck on the QEW, holding another one of the Complainant’s associates in custody. He did not give chase, nor did any other officer chase after the Complainant.

Aside from serving as the impetus for the Complainant to flee from a stolen truck, neither the SO nor any other police officer did anything to cause or contribute to the Complainant’s collision with CW #1’s car. The SO acted lawfully and reasonably during his encounter with the Complainant.

In the final analysis, the Complainant’s injuries were caused by his decision to run away from the SO (who was appropriately questioning him and his associate) into northbound Brant St. traffic. That decision was not the result of the SO’s action or that of any other police officer present at the time. There are no grounds for proceeding with charges in this case. Thus no charges will issue.

Date: August 18, 2017

Original signed by

Original signed by
Tony Loparco
Director
Special Investigations Unit