News Release
SIU Concludes Hamilton Collision Investigation
Case Number: 07-OVI-039
Other News Releases Related to Case 07-OVI-039
The SIU investigation revealed that on February 23, 2007, at approximately 11:30 p.m., two off-duty HPS officers in a Chrysler Cirrus saw two speeding Chrysler Intrepids in the area of Main Street and Kenilworth Avenue. They called the HPS communications centre to report their observations. The officers started to follow the speeding cars but soon lost sight of them.
An on-duty HPS officer spotted the Intrepids in the area of Cannon Street and Sherman Avenue. A license plate check revealed that one of the Intrepids was stolen. The officer activated his cruiser's emergency equipment and started to pursue the cars from Cannon Street to Burlington Street East. The pursuit ended when the driver of one of the Intrepid struck a curb at Burlington and Birch Avenue and came to a stop. The driver was arrested while the passenger fled. The driver of the second Intrepid continued on.
Several officers heard the radio reports of the two Intrepids and went to Burlington and Birch to assist the arresting officer. While there, the subject officer noticed the second Intrepid traveling at high speed on Industrial Avenue and followed it as it continued eastbound on Burlington St. As they approached the intersection of Burlington and Gage Avenue, the subject officer slowed to maintain a distance between the cars. The Intrepid entered the intersection and collided with the two off-duty officers who were in the Cirrus and traveling northbound on Gage Avenue.
There were five occupants in the Intrepid, two of whom suffered serious injuries as a result of the collision. A 15-year-old boy sustained a fractured pelvis and 16-year-old girl sustained a fractured cheekbone. The off-duty HPS officers were not injured.
The investigation found no evidence that either of the men in the Cirrus identified themselves as police officers or exercised their authority as police officers during this incident.
Based on the available evidence Director Cornish concluded, "It is my view that the subject officers' driving did not amount to a marked departure from the standard of care of a reasonable person. Consequently, there is no evidence to suggest that any of the involved officers did anything to cause the collision."
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