News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into OPP SUV, Motorcycle Crash in Tillsonburg
Case Number: 22-PVI-162
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that an Ontario Provincial Police officer committed a criminal offence in connection with a collision that seriously injured a 36-year-old man in Tillsonburg.
On the evening of June 26, 2022, the officer was in a marked police SUV travelling east on Lisgar Avenue just west of Van Norman Drive when a westbound motorcyclist entered his lane and crashed into the front of his vehicle. The man was thrown from his motorcycle and suffered serious injuries, including a fractured pelvis, right ankle and skull.
Director Martino found no evidence that the officer did anything to cause or contribute to the collision with the man’s motorcycle. The officer was travelling below the speed limit within his proper lane of traffic when he was suddenly confronted with a motorcycle that had entered his lane and tried to avoid the collision. 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