News Release
SIU Concludes Vehicle Injury Investigation near Casselman
Case Number: 12-PVI-251
Mississauga (23 October, 2012) --- The Acting Director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Joseph Martino, has concluded that there are no reasonable grounds to charge an Ontario Provincial Police officer with any criminal offence in relation to the injuries sustained by a 51-year-old man in August of 2012.
The SIU assigned three investigators, two forensic investigators and a collision reconstructionist to probe the circumstances of this incident. As part of the investigation, two witness officers and three civilian witnesses were interviewed. The subject officer was interviewed and provided a copy of his duty notes.
The SIU investigation found that the following events took place on Friday, August 31, 2012:
• In the early afternoon hours, the subject officer and a couple of other officers were conducting routine traffic enforcement on Highway 417.
• A BMW vehicle traveling eastbound had been pulled over for speeding just west of Casselman, and the subject officer positioned his police cruiser behind the BMW. Both vehicles were stopped and completely on the paved shoulder south of the eastbound lanes.
• The subject officer left his vehicle and approached the passenger side of the BMW to deal with its occupants. Seconds later, a Volkswagen Golf vehicle proceeding eastbound on the highway veered into the shoulder and struck the rear of the subject officer’s cruiser. The collision propelled the cruiser into the rear of the BMW, and sent both vehicles more than 17 metres east along the shoulder.
• The driver of the Volkswagen broke both wrists in the collision. None of the other participants suffered any serious injury.
Acting Director Martino said, “It is clear that the officer exercised due regard for the safety of the travelling public, and that he did nothing to cause or contribute to this motor vehicle collision.”
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (police officers as well as special constables with the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers with the Legislative Protective Service) that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person. All investigations are conducted by SIU investigators who are civilians. Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, the Director of the SIU must
- consider whether the official has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation
- depending on the evidence, cause a criminal charge to be laid against the official where grounds exist for doing so, or close the file without any charges being laid
- publicly report the results of its investigations