Ontario’s police watchdog says it has charged two officers in connection to a deadly wrong-way pursuit on Freeway 401 final spring.
The Particular Investigations Unit (SIU) mentioned Friday it has charged Durham Regional Cops Sgt. Richard Flynn and Const. Brandon Hamilton every with three counts of felony negligence inflicting dying, and two counts of felony negligence inflicting bodily hurt.
The replace comes greater than eight months after a deadly multi-vehicle crash on April 29, 2024, in Whitby, Ont.
That evening, the SIU mentioned a number of Durham officers had been chasing a cargo van that had been recognized as a car of curiosity in an alleged liquor retailer theft in close by Clarington, Ont.
SIU spokesperson Monica Hudon informed reporters on the time officers discovered a car of curiosity — a U-Haul cargo van — and adopted it via quite a few streets in Durham Area “as the vehicle drove erratically.”
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2:21
Recent particulars emerge about lethal, wrong-way collision on Ontario’s Freeway 401
The car obtained on Freeway 401 at Stevenson Street in Oshawa within the mistaken course and was travelling westbound within the eastbound lanes.
Shortly after, Hudon mentioned there was a multi-vehicle collision involving at the very least six autos on Freeway 401, simply east of Freeway 412, in Whitby, ensuing within the dying of a three-month-old baby, the kid’s grandmother, age 55, and grandfather, age 60. Two different relations had been additionally within the automobile and had been left with accidents.
The motive force of the van, who was additionally killed within the crash, was recognized as a 21-year-old man, whereas a 38-year-old male passenger suffered critical accidents.
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Whereas the SIU is required to finish its probes into police actions inside 120 days, the watchdog mentioned in August it wanted extra time to finish a “thorough investigation.”
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The SIU mentioned two officers concerned within the pursuit didn’t undergo an interview or present their obligation notes, as is their authorized proper. Nineteen witness officers and 36 civilian witnesses had been designated within the case.
Durham Regional Police Chief Peter Moreira mentioned he would “respect the process” and conduct his personal inside investigation as effectively.
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“The fact remains that, regardless of the results of the SIU investigation, this was a tragic and catastrophic event that resulted in the death of innocent lives, devastated a family and has profoundly impacted our community,” he mentioned at a swiftly organized information convention on Friday.
Moreira mentioned the 2 officers had been suspended with pay and can be assigned administrative duties “if and when they’re reinstated.” He mentioned he believed that they had 32 and 4 years of expertise on the pressure.
“Our officers are often called upon to make split-second decisions in an increasingly complex, dynamic, dangerous environment and do so with the commitment to protect life and remove dangerous criminals from the streets — and we’re held accountable for our actions,” Moreira mentioned.
“Whether your concern is centred on the suspected criminal who fled from the police or concerned with the decision-making of officers during this event, we must all have respect for our justice system and be patient for this process to unfold.”
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‘Our family is reeling’
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The incident prompted questions in regards to the resolution to pursue the van within the mistaken course on the freeway.
After the crash, police and emergency dispatchers in Durham had been instructed to take a course on pursuits inside two months.
Gokulnath Manivannan and his spouse Ashwitha had been within the automobile that evening, and spoke in regards to the impacts in an announcement launched in Might by the SIU, saying: “Our family is reeling.”
“We are at a complete loss of words to describe the agony and vacuum in our hearts knowing we can never hold our child Aditya Vivaan, who gave us so many precious memories in such a short time, in our hands again,” Gokulnath mentioned.
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Ford calls lethal Freeway 401 crash a ‘tragedy,’ says high-speed chases must be averted
He added his mother and father had been visiting from Chennai, India, with the only real objective of spending time with their grandson. They’d arrived in Canada solely two days earlier than the crash.
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“My father, who had recently retired at the age of 60, was overjoyed with the opportunity to spend time with his grandson,” the assertion learn.
“He affectionately referred to this time as the ‘year of grandparents fun.’”
He mentioned the infant boy’s grandmother, “was eagerly anticipating every moment with her son and grandson, planning to make their stay all about her grandchild.”
“The pain of my own injuries pales as I grapple with the shock and loss of my parents and my only son on the same evening and the ordeal continues with my wife’s continued suffering from surgeries and repeated flashbacks of the trauma,” Gokulnath wrote.
Each Flynn and Hamilton are required to seem earlier than the Ontario Court docket of Justice in Oshawa on Feb. 13.
— with recordsdata from Ontario Chronicle’ Isaac Callan
© 2025 Ontario Chronicle, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
