The Special Investigations Unit has cleared a police officer after a 23-year-old man was seriously injured in a collision in Delhi.
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According to an SIU report issued this week, on March 17 at about 1:10 am, the man was seen leaving the Delhi District German Home, where there were St. Patrick’s Day festivities, and getting into his parked vehicle.
Believing that the man was impaired, the OPP officer attempted to stop the vehicle. The driver failed to stop and speed away at a high rate of speed. The officer then pulled over and stopped.
About five minutes later, there was a single-vehicle motor vehicle collision near James Street and Bell Street involving the driver who lost control and hit a tree in Delhi Quance Park. He was arrested, transported to Norfolk General Hospital, and later transferred to the Hamilton General Hospital. He suffered a brain bleed but was expected to make a full recovery.
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The SIU report says there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer committed a criminal offense in connection with the man’s injury.
“The officer was within his rights in attempting to stop the complainant.” said the report. “He had seen the complainant stumbling as he approached his vehicle and had cause to suspect that the complainant was impaired by alcohol.
“The officer did reach significant speeds on James Street, topping out at about 100 km/h, but there is no indication of other motorists having been directly imperiled by the officer’s driving. In fact, no other traffic was on the roadway at the time. Upon observing the complainant speed past a stop sign on Church Street West at Main Street, the officer wisely concluded that the risk to public safety was not worth a continuation of the pursuit, and he disengaged. All told, the officer had traveled about 800 meters in under a minute before discontinuing, never getting very near the complainant’s vehicle.”
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police officers that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
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