Watchdog clears OPP officer over fleeing suspect's car crash in Ottawa

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit Photo by ASHLEY FRASER / FILES /POSTMEDIA NETWORK

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The province’s police oversight agency has ruled that an Ontario Provincial Police officer should not face criminal charges for his role in a vehicle pursuit that left a driver and a passenger in another vehicle seriously injured in Ottawa in early July.

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The decision by Special Investigations Unit director Joseph Martino was posted online on Oct. 31.

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On July 3, 2025, at approximately 6:21 p.m., the officer with the OPP Ottawa Traffic Division was driving a marked police vehicle eastbound on Highway 417 when a black Ford Taurus passed the police cruiser at high speed. The officer activated his vehicle’s emergency lights and attempted to catch up to the Taurus, which exited the highway at Innes Road and turned right onto Star Top Road. The Taurus for approximately a half-kilometre more before it crashed into a pole in front of 1519 Star Top Road.

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Paramedics responded, and the driver and passenger of the Taurus were transported to the Civic campus of The Ottawa Hospital, the SIU report said.

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Martino wrote that the OPP officer was “within his rights” in attempting to stop the Taurus for speeding and that he was satisfied the officer had acted with due care and regard for public safety.

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“In what might have been contrary to police policy, the officer continued to pursue the Taurus despite the fact he was operating a cruiser with subdued markings and (the driver of the Taurus) had only committed a Highway Traffic Act offence,” Martino wrote. “That said, the evidence indicates that the (officer) operated his vehicle at reasonable speeds at all times, turned on his emergency lights to give warning to the travelling public of his presence and the pursuit, and quickly disengaged on Star Top Road when it became clear that (the Taurus driver) was endangering third-party traffic with reckless driving.”

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In fact, Martino added, the OPP officer’s vehicle was well back of the Taurus when it tried and failed to overtake a delivery truck and crashed.

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The SIU report also detailed the injuries to the occupants of the Taurus.

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The driver, a 35-year-old man, had facial fractures, traumatic brain injury, contusions of the brain, a right ankle fracture, an intraventricular hemorrhage, and carotid artery dissections.

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The passenger, a 23-year-old woman, had a fractured toe and cheekbone.

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They were both interviewed by the SIU as part of its investigation, the report said.

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In late July, the Ottawa Police Service announced that the driver of the Taurus had been charged with multiple offences in connection with the incident: impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, flight from a peace officer and five counts of driving while prohibited.

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