Two officers who let an impaired driver go before he caused a fatal crash won’t face charges, Ontario’s police watchdog has ruled.
Special Investigations Unit (SIU) director Joseph Martino said Monday there are no reasonable grounds to believe that either Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the March 30, 2024, collision.
The SIU, a civilian agency that investigates the conduct of officials that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person, said it was notified of the incident on July 22 of that year.
Around 1:30 a.m. on March 30, police were called to the parking lot of a McDonald’s in Milton for reports of an impaired driver — later identified as an 18-year-old man —behind the wheel of a black Infiniti. A 16-year-old girl was a passenger in the car.
Two officers responded to the call, one of whom was designated as a subject officer by the SIU. That officer spoke to the driver “at length” and found no grounds existed for an impaired driving charge. They did not conduct an examination or use a breathalyzer to determine sobriety, Martino’s report reads. The driver was allowed to drive away from the scene.
Video footage was later obtained from the McDonald’s that “potentially revealed” the driver as stumbling and/or under the influence of alcohol/drugs, the report indicated.
At 2:23 a.m., two other officers, one of whom was deemed the second subject officer, pulled over the driver near the intersection of Derry Road and Holly Avenue in Milton. The report indicates the Infiniti was weaving in and out of lanes on Derry Road.
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The traffic stop was captured on the officers’ in-car camera (ICC) recording, which showed the subject officer speaking with the driver, who was seated in the driver’s seat. A short time later, the officer asked his passenger to step out and spoke to her briefly before deactivating his ICC microphone. The reason for this is unknown, the report indicates.
The officer charged the driver with two offences under the Highway Traffic Act — careless driving and no front licence plate — but allowed the driver to leave the scene at 2:50 a.m. There was no examination, nor was a device used to determine sobriety.
“At 3:19 a.m., HRPS received several 911 calls from the intersection of Derry Road and Sixth Line in Milton, reporting that two vehicles had been involved in a motor vehicle collision and both vehicles were on fire,” the report reads.
HRPS officers arrived at the scene at 3:24 and found two cars: one being the Infiniti and the other a 2014 Honda CRV driven by a 26-year-old man. The Infiniti had crashed into the rear of the CRV, which was stopped at a red light on Derry Road, at a speed of 140 to 154 kilometres per hour.
Both vehicles were engulfed in flames, and all three occupants died at the scene.
The 18-year-old’s blood sample was eventually sent for analysis and was determined to be three times over the legal limit.
Martino said the offence he considered was criminal negligence causing death — a test that had a high bar to meet.
“The impugned conduct must reflect a wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons. Mere errors of judgment or mistakes are insufficient to make out liability,” he said.
“In the final analysis, when the officers’ indiscretions regarding the second stop are weighed in the balance with the extenuating considerations referenced above, the evidence falls short of reasonably establishing that their conduct amounted to a marked and substantial departure from a reasonable level of care in the circumstances.”
Neither subject officer participated in the investigation or provided their notes, as is their legal right.
As this incident was reported to the SIU about four months after it occurred, no physical evidence was collected, the report indicates.
Martino said it appears the incident may be a contravention of the SIU Act and Police Code of Conduct, and there is evidence the two officers committed “possible misconduct” in how they investigated the matter related to the code of conduct.
He is referring those issues to HRPS’ chief for review and will be notifying the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency, which handles public complaints about police conduct in the matter.
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