News Release

News Release

SIU Investigates Death of Male in Bracebridge

Case Number: 13-PCD-051   

Mississauga (19 February, 2013) --- Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is probing the circumstances surrounding the death of a 56-year-old man in Bracebridge yesterday.

Preliminary information indicates the following:
• At approximately 9 a.m. on February 18, 2013, an Ontario Provincial Police officer traveling on Highway 118W signalled a vehicle to pull over. The vehicle drove into a McDonalds’s parking lot and came to a stop.
• When the officer approached the vehicle, he noticed the male driver was having difficulty breathing. CPR was performed and the man was taken by EMS to the South Muskoka Memorial Hospital.
• He was pronounced deceased upon arrival at the hospital.

The SIU has assigned three investigators and two forensic investigators to probe the circumstances of this incident. A post-mortem will take place this afternoon in Toronto.

Anyone who may have information about this incident is asked to contact the lead investigator at 416-622-1925 or 1-800-787-8529 extension 1925.

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