Police acted properly in chasing an alleged gas thief through Wellington County on a snowy night in January, Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit says.
On the afternoon of Jan. 18, the SIU says, a 31-year-old man left a gas station in Harriston without paying for his gas.
Several police officers began attempting to track down the man and his pickup truck, which they believed was stolen and had been involved in a second gas theft as well.
One officer found the truck on Highway 89, and began following it from a distance.
After the truck turned onto Pike Lake Road, the officer activated his cruiser’s lights – only for the driver to allegedly speed up.
A pursuit ensued, reaching speeds of up to 120 km/h, but was eventually ended when the officer felt that it was unsafe because of slushy and slippery road conditions.
Just seconds later, investigators found, the officer caught up with the truck. It had flipped over and landed off the roadway, in the front yard of a home – suffering what the SIU termed “incredible damage.”
The driver was thrown from the vehicle, as was his 18-year-old female passenger. Both were injured.
The SIU investigation was comprised of interviews with four police officers, including the one whose actions were in question, and seven civilian witnesses.
In the end, the SIU found that the officer’s actions did not constitute any sort of improper conduct.
“The officer appears … to have discharged his duties throughout in a professional and reasonable fashion,” acting SIU director Joseph Martino said in a press release.
“There is no reason to believe the officer drove dangerously or ran unnecessary risks as far as the public’s safety was concerned, including the health and well-being of those in the pickup truck.”
The SIU is called in to investigate any incident in which somebody is seriously injured during an interaction with police.
