April 7, 2023 at 9:45 am
Ontario’s police watchdog has ruled no criminal offense occurred after a man was seriously injured in a crash while fleeing police on Highway 3 in Essex County in December.
According to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), at approximately 4:11 a.m. on December 1, Windsor Police requested the assistance of the OPP in locating two vehicles involved in an ongoing criminal offense across the city.
OPP members from the Essex detachment located the vehicle involved and launched a pursuit.
Police reportedly installed a tire deflation device on one of the vehicles, but it was ineffective and the pursuit ended.
After relocating the vehicles, one of the suspect vehicles collided with an OPP vehicle, causing minor injuries, before fleeing the scene of the crash.
A second tire deflation device was deployed on another suspect vehicle at 1:30 a.m., the SIU said. The driver tried to avoid the device and eventually left the road.
The vehicle entered a ditch on Highway 3 between Cameron Side Road and Marsh Side Road in Kingsville.
The driver was kicked out of the car.
The suspect suffered neck and back injuries and was taken by emergency medical services to Dieu Grace Hotel Hospital, the SIU said. The suspect was diagnosed with a broken nose and back.
After investigating the incident, SIU Director Joesph Martino said he found no reasonable grounds to believe that OPP officers committed a crime by seriously injuring a 28-year-old man.
This document is now closed.
A full version of the report can be found at SIU’s website.