News Release
Officer Did Not Cause or Contribute to Huntsville Collision; SIU Closes File
Case Number: 19-PVI-203
On August 23, 2019, an Ontario Provincial Police officer was manning a simulated RIDE checkpoint in Huntsville when he signaled the driver of an Audi to stop. Instead, the driver sped off, almost striking the officer. The officer entered his police vehicle and pursued the Audi for a brief time before terminating the pursuit. Shortly thereafter, the Audi crashed into a parked car resulting in injuries to the 32-year-old male driver of the Audi and his 24-year-old female passenger. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined that there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer either caused or contributed to the collision in question, or otherwise drove dangerously in violation of the Criminal Code.
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