NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO GOVERNMENT
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On Nov. 25, 2019, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) received a 911 call reporting that the driver of a U-Haul truck had filled up at a gas station on Highway 17 in White River and left without paying. An officer who was in the area spotted the truck and initiated a brief pursuit, which was terminated soon after.
At some point, the U-Haul truck became involved in a collision.The occupants abandoned the truck and fled on a snowmobile. Shortly thereafter, the snowmobile crashed, resulting in serious injuries to a 29-year-old man.
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there is no basis for proceeding with charges against an OPP officer, and the file is closed.
Read the full director’s report (with incident narrative, evidence, and analysis and director’s decision) here.
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
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consider whether an officer has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation
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depending on the evidence, lay a criminal charge against the officer if appropriate or close the file without any charges being laid
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report the results of any investigations to the Attorney General.
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