News Release
SIU Concludes Kitchener Investigation into Cruiser and Bicycle Crash
Case Number: 22-OVI-330
In the early morning of December 19, 2022, Waterloo Regional Police Service officers were dispatched to a Kitchener construction site for a theft in progress. An officer called out to a man who was walking away from the site with his bike, but the man refused to stop. The man then climbed onto the bike and began to ride away. Shortly after, another officer in a cruiser spotted the man. Within moments, the man’s bike and the cruiser collided. In hospital, the 30-year-old man was diagnosed with multiple left-sided rib fractures and a hemothorax. On his assessment of the evidence, SIU Director Joseph Martino determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the man’s arrest and injuries. 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): 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
Lisez ce communiqué en français.
Monica Hudon, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES