News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Man’s Injury After Police Pursuit in Kingston
Case Number: 22-OVI-294
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a Kingston Police officer committed a criminal offence after a 31-year-old man was seriously injured in a collision that followed a pursuit last November.
On November 11, 2022, the officer attempted to pull the man over at a seatbelt compliance checkpoint in the area of Montreal Street and pursued him when he failed to stop. Following a short pursuit, the man continued at speed and crashed into the wall of a business. The man was taken to hospital in an ambulance and reportedly diagnosed with a collapsed lung.
Director Martino found no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer involved transgressed the limits of care prescribed by the criminal law in his engagement with the man, leaving no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case.
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.
Monica Hudon, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES