Charges will not be laid against a Chatham-Kent police officer after a 28-year-old man was struck by a police cruiser.
On Friday, Ontario's Special Investigations Unit released details of an investigation it began after being notified by Chatham-Kent Police Services of an incident that happened on November 15, 2018.
An SIU report shows that an officer was following a man on a bicycle around 2:46 p.m. The man matched the description of someone who had snatched an elderly woman's purse.
During the pursuit, it's alleged the 28-year-old tried to outrun police. He went through an apartment parking lot on McNaughton Avenue West in Chatham and turned onto a grassy passageway behind the apartment building. The suspect then got off the bicycle and reportedly tried throwing the bike over a nearby fence.
In an effort to prevent the suspect from getting away, the police officer drove onto the grass, however, the grass was damp.
"The grass was heavily saturated with water and the [subject officer] lost control of the vehicle and was unable to stop, despite both 'hammering' and tapping on the brakes," read the SIU report. "The vehicle slid forward and to the left, striking shrubs and bushes along the fence line before hitting the complainant with the front driver’s side fender."
The report also states that the police cruiser was going 15 kilometres per hour at the time of the incident.
Following a scene analysis and investigation, the SIU's director found that the police officer in question was "not acting unreasonably" in pursuing the suspect and that it did not warrant charges.
