Cop cleared of dangerous driving in crash with motorcycle that ‘seriously injured’ man in Mississauga: SIU

No charge will be coming for a Peel police officer after driving nearly 160 km/h and crashing with a motorcycle rider in Mississauga, Ontario’s police watchdog says.

The collision happened on June 14 when a Peel Regional Police officer crashed with a 34-year-old motorcyclist on Matheson Boulevard West near McLaughlin Road, Ontario’s Special Investigations Units says.

Investigators say the motorcyclist was spotted by a Peel police officer driving with no licence plate, and the driver accelerated heading eastbound when he realized a police vehicle was behind him.

The officer gave chase in the cruiser reaching a top speed of 159 km/h in a 60 km/h zone, investigators say.

But when the officer pulled up beside the motorcycle there was a crash and the driver of the motorbike was “seriously injured,” a report from the SIU reads.

Some evidence pointed to the officer “intentionally” turning into the motorcycle causing the collision, while the officer said the crash happened when the motorcycle “drifted into the rear driver side of the cruiser.”

The driver of the motorcycle then made a run from police on foot but was located a short while later in a nearby field, and investigators say the 34-year-old complained of back pain and asked to go to the hospital.

Paramedics arrived on scene as did the man’s wife. The driver was taken to hospital and diagnosed with a fractured collarbone. The driver told police that the motorcycle was registered but not insured.

The SIU says it looked at charging the officer with dangerous driving causing bodily harm, but found no charges are warranted.

Forensic evidence supported the officer’s version of events and SIU Director Joseph Martino said “there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges” despite the officer’s speed.

“The (officer’s) speed – more than two-and-a-half times the 60 km/h speed limit at its height – was dangerous. Arguably, considerations of public safety ought to have counselled the officer against that speed,” Martino wrote in the decision, adding the “excessive speed” occurred over a short distance “and there was no evidence of any third-party having been directly imperiled (sic)” by the officer.

The SIU is Ontario’s civilian law enforcement agency which investigates police incidents where there has been death, serious injury, the discharge of a firearm, or allegations of sexual assault.