Cop cleared in Mississauga collision that seriously injured man

A Toronto Police officer involved in the pursuit of a carjacking suspect that ended with a crash in Mississauga that seriously injured one man has been cleared of any wrongdoing by Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU).

In a statement released this afternoon (Aug. 11), SIU director Joseph Martino said no reasonable grounds were found to believe that the officer committed any criminal offence in connection with the April 12 incident that involved two carjackings and multiple collisions.

The SIU, an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police in incidents that involve serious injury or death, had assigned three investigators and a collision reconstructionist to the case.

The incident unfolded in Toronto and a subsequent pursuit continued for nearly 10 kilometres before ending when a stolen cube van rear-ended a car at The Queensway and Dixie Rd. in Mississauga.

The driver of the car, a 24-year-old man, suffered a fractured right arm, the SIU says.

Earlier, according to the SIU, motorists in Toronto had called 911 to report that a man was “exhibiting bizarre and violent behaviour on public roadways.”

He had reportedly jumped onto vehicles and threatened the driver of a Volvo with a shovel, “thereafter carjacking the car and accelerating away eastbound on Burnhamthorpe Rd.”

The SIU statement says the man continued on his way in the stolen car before crashing into a cube van a short time later. The man then left the Volvo and “commandeered the truck,” investigators say.

“In an eight- to nine-kilometre span, the man rammed into multiple vehicles,” the statement continues, noting the pursuit ended a short time later when the truck rear-ended the car in Mississauga.

The truck continued for a short distance south on Dixie Rd. before stalling, the SIU says.

A man was then taken into custody by police.

“The subject (officer) in this case, operating a police SUV, had kept pace with the cube van west and, eventually, south on North Queen St. until The Queensway, and then west to Dixie Rd. and south to the scene of the arrest,” the SIU said.

“Director Martino determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer transgressed the limits of care prescribed by the criminal law throughout his engagement with the vehicle being followed. There was no basis for proceeding with charges in this case, and the file has been closed.”