News Release

SIU Investigates Fatal Collision Involving the Ontario Provincial Police in Thunder Bay

Case Number: 08-PVD-256

TORONTO (3 December, 2008) --- The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has been called to the scene of a fatal motor vehicle collision in Thunder Bay involving the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

On Wednesday December 3, 2008, at approximately 9:50 a.m., a collision occurred on Highway 11/17 at the Twin City Crossroads between two vehicles, one of them an unmarked OPP cruiser. The driver of the civilian vehicle, 18-year-old Jasmine Veneruzzo of Oliver Paipoonge, a rural community west of Thunder Bay, was killed; the officer remains in the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre with non-life threatening injuries. The sergeant from the local OPP detachment was on-duty and on routine patrol at the time of the collision.

The Thunder Bay Police Service is assisting the SIU in preserving the scene for examination by the Unit's forensic investigators. Local police are also rerouting traffic around the collision scene.

The SIU is appealing for anyone, who either witnessed this incident or may have any information about it, to contact the Unit at 1-800-787-8529.

The SIU is an arm’s length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault. Under the Police Services Act, the Director of the SIU must

• consider whether an officer has committed a criminal offence  in connection with the incident under investigation
• depending on the evidence, lay a criminal charge against the officer if appropriate or close the file without any charges being laid
• report the results of any investigations to the Attorney General. 

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SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES
Telephone/No de téléphone: 416-622-2342 or/ou 1-800-787-8529 extension 2342

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Last Update: 10 November, 2010