News Release

News Release

SIU Concludes Ottawa Vehicle Death Investigation

Case Number: 13-OVD-239   

Mississauga (24 April, 2014) --- The Director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Tony Loparco, has concluded that there are no reasonable grounds to charge an officer with the Ottawa Police Service with any criminal offence in relation to the death of a 53-year-old man in October of 2013.

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 five civilian witnesses were interviewed. The subject officer also consented to an interview and provided a copy of her notes to the SIU.  GPS data from the involved police cruiser and video footage from public cameras along the path of the incident were also obtained and reviewed.  

The SIU investigation found that the following events took place on Wednesday, October 2, 2013:
• At approximately 3:50 a.m. the subject officer was driving a marked cruiser eastbound on Laurier Avenue and witnessed a Honda Civic travelling westbound at a high rate of speed.
• The officer activated her emergency lights and made a U-turn to follow the vehicle.
• The driver of the vehicle did not stop and collided with a southbound Kia Rondo at the intersection of Laurier Avenue and Bank Street.
• A 53-year-old man, the driver of the Kia Rondo, died as a result of the collision.

Director Loparco said, “Evidence collected by the SIU indicated that the subject officer’s cruiser was slowing down and no closer than approximately 200 metres from the collision between the Honda Civic and the Kia Rondo. As such, in my view there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the subject officer committed a criminal offence in relation to the fatal collision between the Honda Civic and the Kia Rondo.”       

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