DRPS officers will not face criminal charges after a teenaged driver was injured in a high-speed police pursuit that started in Port Perry.
According to the SIU, there is no basis to file criminal charges against two officers involved in the pursuit, which occurred along Simcoe Street back in October of 2020 and reached speeds in excess of 150 km/h.
A 15-year-old driver suffered a broken nose after losing control of a vehicle while swerving to avoid a stop stick deployed by an officer.
While the report scrutinizes some of the actions taken by officers, it notes that they had a “difficult decision” to make.
“They could allow a driver they had good reason to believe was impaired and driving recklessly, even before the police pursuit, to continue on the road, or take a calculated step to bring the complainant’s dangerous driving to an end,” the ruling reads.
“Faced with difficult options, I am not persuaded that the choice they made, even were it considered unreasonable, was not so wanting as to amount to a marked deviation from a reasonable level of care in the circumstances.”
The pursuit began after officers received a report of a possible impaired driver on Simcoe Street in Port Perry around 9:45 p.m. on Oct. 8, 2020.
“The 911 caller said she believed she was following a drunk driver. A small red-coloured vehicle, like an Accent or something, had skidded into a parking lot at the Canadian Tire store on Simcoe Street in Port Perry,” reads the report from the SIU.
“The licence plate on the back was not very visible and it appeared to be hanging out of the trunk area. The driver looked like he was driving into oncoming traffic. She honked her horn and the driver woke up and swerved back into the middle of the roadway. She tried to get the plate number, but the driver swerved off into the parking lot at the Canadian Tire.”
One of the responding officers located the suspect vehicle, which was actually a red Honda, in the parking lot of a plaza at Simcoe Street and Highway 7A.
“He (the officer) provided the plate number to his dispatcher, learned that it had been reported stolen, and followed the Honda as it travelled through the lot and eventually out onto southbound Simcoe Street,” the SIU report reads.
“The complainant travelled at speeds upwards of 150 km/h on Simcoe Street.”
The responding officer did not activate his cruiser’s emergency lights during the pursuit, which continued on Scugog Line 4 and Old Simcoe Road before returning to Simcoe Street – this time heading south.
As the complainant continued through Raglan, a second officer was granted authorization to deploy a spike belt.
“The complainant swerved to the right to avoid the belt and lost control of his vehicle, which entered into a spin, came back onto the roadway and struck the guardrail on the east side of the road before coming to a rest,” the report reads.
To view the full report, click HERE.
