An incident that began with a bank robbery in Sarnia and ended with a crash in south London that critically injured a woman and her daughter has led to charges against a Middlesex OPP officer.
The Special Investigations Unit launched an investigation after an OPP vehicle that had been chasing a vehicle believed to have been involved in the bank robbery slammed into a taxi that was pulling out of the No Frills grocery store on Southdale Road just west of Wellington Road on July 28, 2019. Porsche Clark, 27, and her 9-year-old daughter Skyla were in the back seat of the cab and suffered critical injuries.
According to the SIU, two men entered a bank in Sarnia that afternoon and sped away, heading toward London on Highway 402. Provincial police chased the vehicle to London, where it got off the highway. Minutes later, the collision involving the OPP cruiser and the cab happened as police were following the vehicle on Southdale Road. Two men were later arrested and charged in connection with the bank robbery.
The SIU investigation has led to charges against Middlesex OPP Constable Timothy Groves. He is charged with one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and two counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm. He is to appear in court on June 2.
"The matter is now properly before the courts. In consideration of the fair trial interests of the accused, the SIU will make no further comment pertaining to this investigation," the SIU said in a statement issued Thursday.
