News Release
SIU Completes Investigation After Woman Injured in Toronto Police Cruiser Collision
Case Number: 23-TVI-419
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, found no reasonable grounds to believe a Toronto Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the broken wrist suffered by a 40-year-old woman after she was struck by a cruiser. On October 14, 2023, the officer was reportedly making his way to a call for service, with his lights and siren on, when he entered an intersection at Markham Road and Eglinton Avenue East on a red light and struck the driver of an SUV.
Director Martino concluded that there appeared to have been a sightline obstruction between the cruiser and the SUV that played a role in the collision. He found the obstruction did not excuse the officer’s failure to only proceed through the eastbound lanes when it was safe to do so, but determined it was a mitigating factor of some weight in the liability analysis. On this record, he was unable to reasonably conclude that the officer’s indiscretions departed markedly from a reasonable standard of care.
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