SIU clears Hamilton police officer after 2 dead in multi-vehicle crash
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Ontario’s police watchdog says a Hamilton officer has been wrongfully acquitted in connection with a multi-vehicle crash last fall that killed two people and injured two others.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said that around 11pm on September 25, the driver of a Ford Escape was involved in a collision with a Hyundai Sonata at a Hamilton intersection. As a result, the two rear seat passengers in the Hyundai lost their lives and the drivers of both the vehicles sustained serious injuries.
Hamilton Police Service officers had attempted to stop the getaway driver moments earlier, the SIU said.
According to the SIU, an officer driving a police forensics van had a conversation with a man who was “driving erratically” on John Street South, near Forest Avenue.
The SIU said that the officer was not injured during the incident.
The officer driving the police van cleared.
The police watchdog said in a news release Monday that SIU Director Joseph Martino found no reasonable cause to believe that the officer driving the police van involved in the collision was guilty of a criminal offense in connection with the incident. What has been committed?
The SIU did not release the officer’s name.
“As there were no grounds to proceed with criminal charges in this case, the file has been closed,” the SIU said.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates incidents involving police officers that may result in death, serious injury, sexual assault or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
