Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating a multivehicle crash that left four people dead, including a baby, after officers pursued a robbery suspect driving in the wrong direction on the country’s busiest highway.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) took over the probe into the fiery collision that killed a couple and their infant grandchild on Highway 401 in Whitby, east of Toronto, on Monday evening. The suspect was also killed.
Audio recordings of police radio calls indicate the chaos on the highway in the moments before the crash. At one point, an Ontario Provincial Police officer asked a dispatcher to make sure that a Durham Regional Police supervisor was aware that “multiple Durham units” were driving in the wrong direction. Another officer said about six police vehicles were involved in the pursuit.
“Someone’s going to get hurt,” one of the officers said in recordings identified as being from the OPP’s highway safety division in Whitby and posted on Broadcastify, which streams and archives publicly accessible emergency radio broadcasts.
The dispatcher told officers that Durham police were trying to shut down the highway but quickly added that there may have been a crash. Soon after, an officer on the scene reported a head-on collision with a transport truck. “We need fire right away. This vehicle’s on fire here,” another officer said.
Durham police began pursuing a U-Haul cargo van after an alleged robbery at an LCBO store in nearby Clarington around 7:50 p.m. on Monday. An off-duty officer was at the store and alerted police, said SIU spokeswoman Monica Hudon.
Durham police followed the suspect, who drove “erratically” on local streets, and continued pursuing the van after it began driving the wrong way on Highway 401, Ms. Hudon said.
Video taken before the crash shows a cargo van driving westbound at apparent high speed in the eastbound lanes of the highway amid early-evening traffic with police in pursuit.
Ms. Hudon said the collision occurred around 8:10 p.m. and involved at least six vehicles. Footage of the aftermath showed a heavily damaged cab of a transport truck.
The SIU’s investigation will include an examination of officers’ decision to pursue the van, police recordings and policies related to vehicle chases, Ms. Hudon said.
“Every situation is different and as part of the SIU’s investigation we are going to look into the pursuit, when it started, where it started, what transpired, what made up the pursuit,” she told reporters.
Provincial regulations say police pursuits of vehicles can only happen when there are no alternatives and when the public safety risks of a chase are outweighed by the risk of not immediately apprehending or identifying a suspect.
Durham police have a helicopter based in nearby Oshawa that is available 24 hours a day. However, it is not known whether the aircraft was part of the force’s response.
Durham police declined to answer questions, citing the SIU investigation. In a statement, the force said it is “fully co-operating” with the SIU and that “this incident has had a profound impact on our community and our members.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford offered condolences to the family members of the victims.
“It’s heart-wrenching, when you see everyone from a grandfather to a little baby, that lost their lives because someone decides to rob a liquor store and go on the other side of the highway. It’s a tragedy,” he said at an appearance in Caledon, Ont.
Asked if police chases should be banned, the Premier said his government was giving police more resources, such as the helicopters announced in his recent budget, in order to avoid high-speed pursuits.
“We’re going to do everything we can to equip our police [so] that there won’t have to be high-speed chases,” he said.
Three members of a family, including a 60-year-old, a 55-year-old and their infant grandchild, were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the van also died at the scene.
One person was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
The SIU asked anyone with information about the collision, including video or photos, to contact its lead investigator.
The SIU handles cases involving police that result in death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
With a report from Jeff Gray
Jill Mahoney