The province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has concluded their investigation into a collision that claimed the lives of two teenagers and injured three other people four months ago in downtown Windsor.
According to the SIU, at approximately 1:20 a.m. on Oct. 15, 2023, officers with the Windsor Police Service observed a Dodge Charger proceed through a red light at a high rate of speed at the intersection of Park Street and Ouellette Avenue in the City of Windsor.
The officers activated their emergency lighting in an attempt to stop the vehicle, but it continued northbound on Ouellette Street and made no attempt to stop. The officers then discontinued their attempt to stop the vehicle just south of University Avenue.
The SIU said the Dodge Charger continued northbound on Ouellette Street and then eastbound on Riverside Drive. The Dodge Charger approached the intersection of Riverside Drive and Glengarry Avenue at approximately 145 km/h, before it proceeded through the intersection on a red light and collided with civilian vehicles at approximately 88 km/h.
The ensuing collision was violent, in which the SIU said the Dodge Charger was split “in half.”
Four males were inside the Dodge Charger at the time of the collision.
A 17-year-old male, believed to be the driver and who had reportedly been drinking, was transported to the Windsor Regional Hospital Ouellette Campus and pronounced deceased.
A second male, 19 years of age and believed to be occupying the rear passenger seat of the Dodge Charger, was ejected during the collision, and was also pronounced deceased.
The two other occupants of the Dodge Charger were transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while an occupant from a civilian vehicle involved in the collision suffered unknown non-life-threatening injuries.
The SIU has invoked its mandate following a serious collision that closed a section of Riverside Drive East in Windsor, Ont. on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. (Source: OnLocation/X)
The SIU’s determination
In his determination, SIU Director Joseph Martino found “there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the SO [subject officer] committed a criminal offence in connection with the collision.”
Based on the traffic infractions the officer had observed, Martino said the officer was in the lawful execution of his duty when he briefly activated his emergency lights and pursued the Dodge Charger.
Martino said however that upon witnessing the Dodge Charger run a second red light, the officer’s decision to call off the pursuit and pull over was the “reasonable thing to do.”
“[The driver] had now committed two very dangerous maneuvers, the latter when he possibly knew of the police presence behind him, and there was reason to believe a police pursuit would only aggravate the risk to public safety,” the report reads.
As a result, Martino determined the officer in question “did not transgress the limits of care” in his brief engagement with the Dodge Charger, and therefore there is no basis for moving forward with criminal charges.
The file is now closed.
The SIU has invoked its mandate following a serious collision that closed a section of Riverside Drive East in Windsor, Ont. on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. (Source: OnLocation/X)
