A Hamilton police officer will not face charges after a man was injured in a brief pursuit last year not far from the Centre on Barton.
The province’s police watchdog says an officer was not careless with an arrest preceded by a motorcycle crash and subsequent foot pursuit near Craigmiller Avenue and Ottawa Street North on Oct. 12, 2020.
According to a Special Investigations Unit (SIU) report, the complainant allegedly drove off before police arrived at Hope Street, the scene of a crash that had involved his girlfriend and the bike.
The officer tracked the motorcycle for several blocks and attempted to stop it by creating a roadblock with his cruiser.
The motorcyclist tried to evade the police car and subsequently hopped a sidewalk and crashed into a residential fence.
The suspect was arrested when he failed to scale a backyard fence. He suffered a fractured finger, according to the SIU.
The SIU was considering charging the officer with dangerous driving causing bodily harm on the grounds he may have violated one or more provincial regulations governing police pursuits in respect to traffic safety.
Get breaking National news
Yet in his decision, director Joseph Martino ultimately said the attempted roadblock was “justified.”
Comments