Ontario's police oversight agency has found no grounds to charge a London police officer in a collision that left an 83-year-old woman with broken ribs.
The Special Investigations Unit was called to London after the collision on February 6, 2024. According to the SIU, the officer was driving a marked Chevrolet Tahoe on Wharncliffe Road, on his way to a call regarding a baby was that was not breathing. The officer entered the intersection of Wharncliffe and Horton Street on a red light and collided with driver's side of the woman's Chevrolet Cruze.
The woman was taken to hospital, where she was diagnosed with broken ribs.
While SIU Director Joseph Martino said he did not find reason to charge the officer in connection with the crash, he did have some criticism of the officer's actions.
"With respect to the officer’s driving, I am unable to reasonably conclude that the SO (Subject Officer) transgressed the limits of care prescribed by the criminal law as he approached and then entered the intersection where the collision occurred.," Martino wrote in his final report. "When the officer decided to cross the intersection on a red light, he was obliged by virtue of section 144(20) of the Highway Traffic Act to first come to a full stop and then only proceed when it was safe to do so. The SO, the data suggest, did not come to a full stop. Nor does the evidence suggest he exercised maximum care as he travelled northbound through the intersection – the collision itself would tend to belie that proposition."
However, Martino noted that it was not the case that the officer "accelerated headlong into the intersection." In fact, he determined that the crash data indicated the officer proceeded carefully and at slow speed through the intersection to the point of impact.
"As for the rest of the officer’s driving, there is nothing of significant concern," Martino wrote. "He was on the wrong side of the road as he approached Horton Street, but this was not surprising given that time was of the essence and there was a need to circumvent traffic. Nor is there any evidence to suggest other roadway traffic was directly imperiled by the officer briefly entering into the wrong lane of traffic."
Martino added that it seems like the collision was the result of a momentary lapse of attention, which does not "give rise to liability."
The SIU says the matter is now closed.
