News Release

News Release

SIU Concludes Investigation in Hamilton Motor Vehicle Injury

Case Number: 13-OVI-216   

Mississauga (12 March, 2014) --- The Director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Tony Loparco, has concluded that there are no reasonable grounds to charge a Hamilton Police Service officer with any criminal offence in relation to the injuries sustained by a 20-year-old man in August 2013.

The SIU assigned four investigators, one forensic investigator and a collision reconstructionist to probe the circumstances of this incident. As part of the investigation, two civilian witnesses were interviewed. The subject officer consented to an interview with the SIU.

The SIU investigation found that the following events took place on the evening of August 29, 2013:
• The subject officer was parked in his cruiser on the centre median of the Red Hill Valley Parkway (RHVP) operating a laser device.
• The subject officer observed the complainant driving a motorcycle at 142 km/h, 52 km/h above the posted speed limit. 
• The subject officer  activated the police vehicle emergency lights and took up pursuit of the motorcycle 
• The motorcyclist failed to stop and continued to drive at a high rate of speed until he arrived at the Barton Street off- ramp.
• As he exited onto the off-ramp, the complainant failed to negotiate the left hand curve and collided with the guardrail.  

A SIU collision reconstructionist reported the critical curve speed for the section of the roadway where the motorcyclist crashed was 77 to 88 km/h. The speed at which the complainant’s motorcycle exited the RHVP at the Barton Street exit was calculated to be between 87 to 98 km/h. The evidence indicated that the complainant failed to negotiate the left hand turn, leaving 14.8 metres of tire marks, before colliding with the guardrail.  There was no evidence of contact between the subject officer’s police cruiser and the motorcycle.

Director Loparco said, “There is no indication that the officer’s conduct unduly fueled the complainant’s reckless driving: the complainant had been speeding prior to the officer’s involvement and stated to SIU investigators that he did not actually see the cruiser or the lights of the cruiser behind him (although he assumed it must have been there). Further to this the evidence suggests the complainant had sufficient time and space to bring his vehicle to a safe stop.  In the final analysis, the complainant has only himself to blame for losing control of his motorcycle and suffering injuries in the process.”
 
“Accordingly, there are no reasonable grounds, in my view, to believe that the subject officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the injuries sustained by the complainant.”

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