News Release

News Release

SIU Concludes Investigation into Richmond Hill Vehicle Death

Case Number: 12-OVD-319   

Mississauga (9 November, 2012) --- The Director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ian Scott, has concluded that there are no reasonable grounds to charge a York Regional Police officer with any criminal offence in relation to the death of a 30-year-old man earlier this month.

The SIU assigned two investigators, three forensic investigators and a collision reconstructionist to probe the circumstances of this incident.  The subject officer declined to be interviewed by the SIU and did not provide a copy of his duty notes, as is his legal right.  However, the forensics aspect of this investigation and a civilian witness interview provided sufficient information to decide whether the subject officer probably committed a criminal offence.

The SIU investigation found that the following events took place on Thursday, November 1:
• In the early morning hours, a man was walking near or on Yonge Street in the Richmond Hill area.  He was dressed in dark clothing and this part of Yonge Street was poorly illuminated. There was a light drizzle.
• At approximately 3:30 a.m., the man was struck by a Mercedes Benz.  The vehicle left the scene of the accident, leaving the man lying on the roadway. 
• Shortly after the initial impact, a civilian motorist struck the body which was lying on the roadway.  The civilian stopped a short distance from the body, called 911 on his cell phone, and informed the dispatcher of the incident. 
• The subject officer responded in a marked cruiser within minutes.  He too came into contact with the body on the roadway. The man was declared deceased at the scene.

Director Scott said, “Whether the man was alive immediately before the subject officer’s cruiser impacted with his body is not relevant to a determination of the subject officer’s criminal liability.  His driving could still be considered to be dangerous even if it was not responsible for the man’s demise. However, there is no suggestion that the subject officer drove in a manner dangerous to the public.  In the execution of his duties, he responded to a 911 call and drove to the incident scene on a dark roadway in inclement weather.  Similar to the civilian motorist who struck the body of the man as it was lying flat on Yonge Street, the subject officer did the same thing. While the man no doubt died as a result of one or a combination of impacts from motor vehicles that morning, there is no information gathered in this investigation to support the conclusion that the subject officer drove in a dangerous manner.”

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