News Release
No Charges Against Windsor Police Officer After Man Suffers Head Injuries, Broken Bones in Amherstburg Crash
Case Number: 21-OVI-358
Other News Releases Related to Case 21-OVI-358
SIU Investigating Serious Injury Suffered by Man in Essex County Crash
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a Windsor Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the head injuries and broken bones suffered by a 28-year-old-man after a crash last October.
On October 22, 2021, an officer located a vehicle on Howard Avenue south of County Road 8, after receiving a report of an erratic driver. There was a brief pursuit before the driver jumped or fell out of the moving pickup truck. The truck continued travelling forward, hitting a ditch and utility pole in front of a home on Howard Avenue. The officer pulled up and aided the man. He was then taken to hospital.
Director Martino found that the officer involved comported himself with due care and regard for public safety in the brief pursuit. 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