Ontario’s police watchdog has cleared a London police officer of criminal wrongdoing after a cruiser racing to a call crashed into a bystander’s vehicle, seriously injuring a 67-year-old woman.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) found there were no reasonable grounds to lay charges against an unnamed London police officer in connection to the June 15 crash, but said the officer’s “indiscretion” led to the collision.
The final report by the SIU said the officer, responding to an emergency call in a police SUV with lights and sirens, drove through the Highbury Avenue at Hamilton Road intersection on a red light and struck a Ford F150 truck heading north on Highbury.
A 67-year-old woman in the vehicle was treated for a broken sternum at Victoria Hospital as a result of the crash, the SIU reported. She notified the SIU about the incident weeks later, triggering the investigation, the agency said.
Data reviewed by the SIU found the marked police SUV approached the intersection, heading east on Hamilton Road, at 85 kilometres/hour. He slowed to 5 km/h before entering the crossing, then accelerated to 38 km/h by the time of impact, the report released Friday said.
The cruiser did not come to a complete stop at the intersection, and instead entered the crossing “slowly and carefully,” the SIU report said. But the officer failed to ensure that northbound traffic on Highbury Avenue, which had a green light, had come to a complete stop before accelerating, the report said.
“That want of care, in my view, contributed significantly to the collision that occurred with the complainant’s pickup, which was proceeding lawfully through the intersection on a green light,” the report said.
“He should have continued to advance slowly to ensure that all northbound traffic had stopped before resuming his acceleration.”
Even with the “momentary lapse in judgement” on the part of the officer, SIU director Joseph Martino said the officer’s conduct did not attract a charge of dangerous driving causing bodily harm since it was not a significant departure from the reasonable standard.
The SIU report said London police were unaware of the woman’s injuries and did not contact the arm’s length agency, which investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
The report said the issue of non-notification of this incident to the SIU will be referred to the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency for their review.