News Release
No Charges Against Hamilton Police Officer After Death of Woman in Hamilton Crash
Case Number: 21-OVD-326
Other News Releases Related to Case 21-OVD-326
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a Hamilton Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the death of a 51-year-old woman in a collision last September.
On the morning of September 29, 2021, an officer was travelling to a call for service when he came upon two vehicles that had collided on Gage Avenue. He briefly spoke with one of the drivers before telling her to call 911 as he and another officer were responding to a priority call. The driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision appeared to be leaving the scene of the collision. The officers proceeded to stop the driver before he fled on East Bend Avenue North. Officers briefly pursued the driver before he sped off and the officers resumed their travel to the original call for service. The driver then struck another vehicle on Balsam Avenue at Maplewood Avenue. The female driver of the vehicle that was struck died.
Director Martino said it was clear that the subject official did not transgress the limits of care prescribed by the criminal law. Accordingly, there was no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case, and the file has been closed.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision):
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
Lisez ce communiqué en français.
Kristy Denette, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES