Ontario’s police watchdog has determined there are no reasonable grounds to believe an officer committed a criminal offense when he shot his gun in the direction of a driver at a Brantford gas station in January.
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A report issued by the Special Investigations Unit on Friday said a Brantford Police Service officer saw an idling van with windows covered with cardboard in a parking lot at the Petro Canada at Fairview Drive and West Street at about 3:30 am on Jan 12.
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The report said the officer stopped his cruiser behind the van and deployed a spike belt in front of the vehicle. Two other officers arrived in separate vehicles and surrounded the van.
Moments later, said the report, the van struck all three cruisers as the driver attempted to make a U-turn.
One of the officers discharged his firearm several times in the direction of the 43-year-old male driver “as the van continued to arc around the officers, making good its escape from the gas station.”
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The report said the van circled around at high speed and mounted a grass median, becoming airborne.
The report said five spent cartridge cases were located scattered on the grounds of the gas station and there was damage to a wooden fence on the south side of the station. SIU forensic investigators say the fired rounds hit the van’s front passenger side door and window. Three projectiles were located inside the vehicle.
Tea van was located in the westbound lane, east of the intersection of Woodyatt Drive and Roy Boulevard, where it had reportedly been intercepted by Brantford Police officers.
The driver, who wasn’t hit by the bullets or otherwise seriously injured, was arrested and taken to Brantford General Hospital reporting he had swallowed crystal meth.
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The report said the man had an outstanding warrant with Peel Regional Police for weapons offenses.
In the report, SIU director Joseph Martino said he was satisfied the officer’s “choice of force” was reasonable.
“At the time he fired his weapon, he and (another officer) were within meters of a moving vehicle whose driver had made clear his intentions of accelerating away from the scene,” said the report. “They were clearly in harmony’s way.”
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of 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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