News Release

News Release

SIU Concludes Investigation into Highway 401 Vehicle Death near Belleville

Case Number: 13-PVD-168   

Mississauga (12 September, 2013) --- The Director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ian Scott, has concluded that there are no reasonable grounds to charge an Ontario Provincial Police officer with the Quinte West detachment with any criminal offence in relation to the death of 52-year-old Allan Ranger in July of 2013.

The SIU assigned four investigators and two forensic investigators to probe the circumstances of this incident. As part of the investigation, two witness officers and two civilian witnesses were interviewed. The subject officer provided a copy of his duty notes to the SIU but declined to be interviewed, as is his legal right. 

The SIU investigation found that the following events took place on Tuesday, July 16, 2013:
• Shortly after midnight, the subject officer attempted to stop a motorcycle traveling westbound on Hwy 401 near Belleville. The driver of the motorcycle, Mr. Ranger, was travelling at 50 km/h in a 100 km/h zone and did not have a working tail light on his motorcycle.  Mr. Ranger did not stop for the officer.
• At Hwy 62, Mr. Ranger exited at the off-ramp, turned south, crossed Hwy 401 on the Hwy 62 overpass and then re-entered the highway via the eastbound off-ramp.  The result of this maneuver caused Mr. Ranger to be driving his motorcycle westbound against traffic traveling eastbound on Hwy 401. The subject officer discontinued his pursuit of the motorcycle as Mr. Ranger was entering the off-ramp onto Hwy 401.
• Mr. Ranger did not travel very far before he collided with a car being driven in an easterly direction by a motorist who was travelling at approximately 100 km/h.
• The impact of the car and the motorcycle caused Mr. Ranger’s immediate death. The motorist was not physically injured by the collision.

Director Scott said, “In my view, the subject officer did nothing wrong in these circumstances. He had the lawful authority to signal the motorcycle being driven by Mr. Ranger to stop for Highway Traffic Act infractions, and the authority to enter into a suspect apprehension pursuit when Mr. Ranger attempted to flee. Further, the subject officer discontinued the pursuit presumably because he concluded that the risk to public safety outweighed the need to apprehend the fleeing motorcyclist. Mr. Ranger chose to engage in criminally negligent behaviour when he drove in a westerly direction in the eastbound lanes of a major thoroughfare, and is solely responsible for his own demise caused by the collision with a vehicle being driven by an unsuspecting motorist.” 

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