DRPS officers cleared of criminal wrongdoing in Beaverton incident

DAN CEARNS, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, for The Standard

BROCK: Durham Regional Police officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing, in an ATV crash in late September 2020, in Beaverton.

On Tuesday, January 12th, Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) provided their findings from their investigation.

“In the early morning hours of September 27th, 2020, two police officers from the Durham Regional Police Service, investigating reports of suspicious motor vehicle activity, on Simcoe Street in Beaverton, interacted with a man who was driving an ATV. The ATV crashed, and the man suffered four broken ribs, on his left side, and a broken scapula,” an SIU press release explained. “The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to believe either officer committed a criminal offence during their encounter with the man.”

According to a previous SIU press release, the incident began after “a Durham Regional Police Service officer, in an unmarked police vehicle, was in the area of Simcoe Street and Mara Road when he observed an ATV that did not have a licence plate. In addition, the driver did not have a helmet.”

The ATV driver was identified as a 46 year-old man, and when he was asked by the police to pull over he “attempted to flee and struck the curb, causing the ATV to flip over.”

“The Complainant was taken to Orillia’s Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH) by Durham Emergency Medical Services, where the Complainant was diagnosed with fractures to his shoulder and ribs,” read the SIU report.

The man reportedly told police “he had driven off because he had not wanted to get a ticket.”

The SIU found the officers involved in the situation followed proper protocols.

“Neither police officer, when interacting with the Complainant, drove above any speed limits, engaged in any pursuit of the Complainant, or created a blockade with their police car, into which the Complainant had no choice but to collide. Rather, both police officers were very careful to align their vehicles so that the Complainant could go around their vehicles. The Complainant chose to do this rather than stop, and, in doing so, crashed,” the SIU report reads.

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