Deadly 401 crash: Family suing Durham Police over alleged ‘reckless judgment’

The parents of an infant who was killed, along with his grandparents, in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby, Ont., in April 2024 are suing Durham police.

The statement of claim from Gokulnath Manivannan and Ashwitha Jawahar, and two other family members, was filed this month against two Durham Regional Police officers, the Durham Regional Police Services Board, the estate of the driver who struck them and U-Haul.

Lawyers Brad Moscato and Adam Wagman of Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP sent a statement to Global News calling the loss to their clients “unimaginable” and indicating that their focus right now is on “grieving and supporting one another through this devastating time.”

Wagman told Global News in an interview they want to ensure there is a “system that prevents the public being put at risk.”

“Obviously, the police are there to fight crime once it happens. But primarily, the police are here to protect the public. In this particular instance, the system failed,” he said.

“I don’t even suggest that it’s the individual police officers. The system failed this family, the system failed every single person who was on the 401 that day and this could have happened to any of them.”

On the night of April 29, 2024, the SIU said Durham Regional Police officers were notified by an off-duty officer of a robbery at an LCBO near Green Road and Highway 2 in Clarington, Ont.

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The SIU said officers found a vehicle of interest — a U-Haul cargo van — and followed the van through numerous streets in Durham Region “as the vehicle drove erratically” and then got on Highway 401 at Stevenson Road in Oshawa in the wrong direction and was travelling westbound in the eastbound lanes.

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Shortly after, there was a multi-vehicle collision on Highway 401, just east of Highway 412, in Whitby, resulting in the death of the child, aged three months, his grandmother, 55, and his grandfather, 60.

The baby’s parents, both from Ajax, were also in the car and were injured in the collision.

The driver of the U-Haul, Gagandeep Singh, 21, was killed in the crash.

The statement of claim alleges Sgt. Richard Flynn and Const. Brandon Hamilton “exercised negligent and reckless judgment” when they “drove on to Highway 401, in the wrong direction, and pursued the Suspect Motor Vehicle westbound in the eastbound lanes.”

It adds the two officers “failed to consider available alternatives to pursuing the Suspect Motor Vehicle” and “failed to consider public safety in their pursuit of the Suspect Motor Vehicle.”

Statements of defence have not yet been filed. Durham Regional Police told Global News while its aware of the lawsuit, it will not comment as it is part of an ongoing investigation and legal process.

1:53 Wrong-way 401 crash: 2 officers haven’t agreed to interviews in SIU investigation

Flynn and Hamilton were both charged with three counts each of criminal negligence causing death and two counts each of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

The plaintiffs, which include the baby’s remaining grandmother in India and his aunt, are claiming damages in the amount of $25 million for personal injuries and corresponding damages.

“We know that a lawsuit and money can’t bring back what these people have lost. We hope that there is a measure of comfort that compensation can bring and that they can use that money to honor their loved ones, but we’re a long way away from that,” Wagman said.

“Really, we want to start by getting answers and we want to make sure our community is safe, and that’s what the police want to do, too. So we want to make sure that we have a system going forward to prevent this from happening to anybody else in the future.”