Two Durham police officers have been charged in connection with a multi-vehicle collision last spring that killed four people, including two grandparents and their infant grandchild, following a police chase of a suspect driving the wrong way on Canada’s busiest highway, Ontario’s police watchdog says.
Sgt. Richard Flynn and Const. Brandon Hamilton have been charged with three counts each of criminal negligence causing death and two counts each of criminal negligence causing bodily harm, the Special Investigations Unit said in a news release Friday.
The charges stem from the crash on April 29, 2024 in Whitby, Ont., in which police officers chose to pursue a liquor store robbery suspect driving the wrong way on Highway 401.
Wasn’t this the one where the whole reason they chased the perp is because he disrespected the cops?
No. They’d stolen about $1600 of booze. Definitely not worth the death of a baby and its grandparents.
What charges did the runaway robber get? Ultimately, they caused this chain of events, despite the officers’ actions.
What charges did the right-way driver get? Ultimately, this wouldn’t have happened if they were also driving the wrong way.
Oh sorry, I thought we were playing the “blame everyone but the police” game.
The driver died and the passenger pleaded guilty to 3 charges.
I disagree on the cause tho, as the cops could have just backed off from chasing the vehicle because of the chance of injuries to other drivers, which is what happened (3 deaths).
If I recall correctly, what they stole wasn’t even worth that much. Definitely not worth starting a high-speed chase over, and you can’t have a chase without a pursuer. If it had been a multiple murderer fleeing the scene, the risk might have been acceptable, but not for this.
