The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has terminated an investigation into the fatal collision that occurred in January 2024 on the QEW at the Brant Street off-ramp in Burlington.
In the early morning of January 29, 2024, two Halton Regional Police Service officers pulled over a pick-up truck for speeding. The vehicle had been clocked doing upwards of 150 km/h travelling westbound on the Queen Elizabeth Way in the area of Burloak Drive.
The pick-up truck came to a stop in the northern-most lane of the highway just west of the Guelph Line overpass. It remained in that position for about two minutes before accelerating away at high speed. Neither officer had approached the pick-up truck on foot by that time.
About 25 seconds later, the officers, operating separate vehicles, resumed their travel westbound on the highway and came across the site of a collision. The driver of the pick-up truck had exited the highway at Brant Street, losing control on the off-ramp and crashing the vehicle about 90 metres east of Brant Street. There were four people in the pick-up truck. A 45-year-old male and a 24-year-old female passenger suffered serious injuries. A 25-year-old male passenger died in the collision. The driver was unharmed.
Based on the SIU’s preliminary inquiries, including a review of video footage that captured the incident in parts, Martino was satisfied the investigation should be discontinued. It was apparent on this record that neither officer did anything that could conceivably attract criminal sanction in connection with this matter. As such, the file has been closed.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (police officers as well as special constables with the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers with the Legislative Protective Service) that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person. All investigations are conducted by SIU investigators who are civilians.
Original release
Mississauga, ON (29 January, 2024) ---
The province’s Special Investigations Unit is investigating after a 26-year-old man died in a collision involving a pick-up truck that fled Halton Regional Police Service officers in Burlington early this morning.
Preliminary information suggests the following:
At approximately 3:45 a.m. on January 29, 2024, two Halton Regional Police Service officers stopped the driver of a truck for speeding on the Queen Elizabeth Way at Guelph Line. The driver fled. The officers came upon a collision at the Brant Street off ramp. It was the pickup truck.
There were four occupants in the truck. All four were taken to hospital. One individual was pronounced deceased in hospital.
The SIU is urging anyone who may have information about this investigation, including video or photos, to contact the lead investigator at 1-800-787-8529 or online at: https://siu.on.ca/en/appeals.php
