Ont.’s police watchdog investigating after Centre Wellington man seriously injured
Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating a crash near Belwood Lake that saw a 43-year-old Centre Wellington man transported to hospital.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says it happened around 1:45 a.m. Wednesday in the area of Wellington Road 18 and Fourth Line, a few kilometres northeast of Fergus, Ont.
The SIU says shortly after midnight, Halton police officers attempted to stop a black Chrysler 300 alleged to have committed traffic infractions in another jurisdiction.
“The attempt was unsuccessful and officers disengaged,” the SIU said in a media release.
When the car entered Wellington County, OPP officers tried to stop to the vehicle.
At 1:45 a.m., the car left the roadway and entered a ditch.
The SIU says the driver was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a serious injury. The nature of the injury was not specified.
RESIDENTS REACT
One driver, who spoke to CTV News on camera but did not want to be identified by name, said she was on her way to work Wednesday morning around 6:30 a.m. when she saw the car in the ditch and some police officers.
“It looked like they had just arrived. The scene looked very sad or scary,” she said.
Nearby residents say this isn’t the first time there’s been dangerous driving so close to home.
“Everybody speeds down this road anyways. Every time I come home, I always have to slow down and people are just tailgating you all the time,” said James Hetzel, who lives nearby.
ROAD CLOSURES
Police shut down around 7 km of roadway in the area Wednesday morning.
As of 4 p.m., Wellington Road 18 remains closed between Fifth Line and Third Line. Fourth Line is still closed between Wellington Road 18 and Eramosa-Garafraxa Townline.
SIU APPEALS FOR INFORMATION
Three investigators and one forensic investigator have been assigned to the case.
The SIU is asking anyone who has information about the incident, including video or photos, to contact the lead investigator at 1-800-787-8529 or online.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report. Of the 15 most polluted cities in the two countries, 14 were in Canada.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
WATCH LIVE As former prime minister Mulroney lies in state, public tributes in Ottawa begin
Members of the public who wish to pay tribute to Brian Mulroney can visit his casket in Ottawa starting this afternoon.
BREAKING Roy McMurtry, former Ontario attorney general, dies at 91
CTV News has confirmed that former Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry has died.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
DEVELOPING Canada's annual inflation rate ticked down to 2.8 per cent in February, defying expectations
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.