News Release
No Basis to Proceed with Charges in Relation to Collision that Occurred When a Police SUV Broadsided a Civilian Vehicle in Peterborough
Case Number: 20-OVI-011
In the evening of October 22, 2019, a 29-year-old woman was traveling eastbound on Sherbrooke Street in Peterborough when her vehicle was broadsided by a police cruiser proceeding south through the intersection at Clonsilla Avenue. The woman’s vehicle was propelled in a southeasterly direction into a private driveway at the corner of the intersection, where it collided with a parked pickup truck. The police officer was en route to the scene of a call for service involving an incident with a knife. The woman was subsequently removed from her vehicle and attended hospital, where she was diagnosed with a concussion. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the collision and the woman’s serious injury.
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