News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Oxford County Crash
Case Number: 07-PVI-135
Other News Releases Related to Case 07-PVI-135
The SIU determined that at 3:41 a.m. on July 13, 2007, an OPP officer saw a pickup truck go over the centre line on Tillson Avenue and cross into the oncoming lane. As a result of this the officer decided to follow it. The driver of the pickup continued to drive erratically and went through a stop sign. The officer turned on his cruiser's roof lights to stop the pickup, but it did not pull over. The pursuit lasted for two minutes and reached speeds in excess of 100 km/h. The pursuit ended when the truck went through a stop sign at a "T" intersection, left the road, and crashed into a culvert on Dereham Line. One of the three passengers in the pickup, a 40-year-old man, sustained a fracture in his right hand.
Seven SIU investigators including two SIU Forensic Identification Technicians (FIT) and a Collision Reconstructionist probed the circumstances of the collision that lead to the passenger being injured.
Director Cornish said, " The officer noticed a pickup truck cross the centre and go into the oncoming lanes. The officer followed the pickup truck. The officer activated his roof lights and the driver of the pickup truck did not stop. There is no evidence that the officer interfered with the operation of the pickup truck. The officer's driving was not a marked departure from the standard of care one would expect from a prudent driver in the same situation and fell well within the limits prescribed by criminal law."
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (municipal, regional and provincial police officers, police officers with the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, 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