News Release
No Charges to Issue in Relation to Guelph Police Pursuit
Case Number: 18-OVI-048
On February 19, 2018, a Guelph Police Service officer activated the emergency lighting system on his police cruiser in order to stop a vehicle of interest. The vehicle did not stop, but instead accelerated and sped away. The officer pursued the vehicle, but then slowed when he lost sight of it. A short distance away, the officer located the vehicle which was stuck in the ditch of the Hanlon Highway. The driver was arrested and transported to hospital for treatment. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Tony Loparco, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges against the officer in relation to the serious injury reportedly sustained by the man.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision):https://www.siu.on.ca/en/directors_reports.php.
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