Off-duty officer charged after car crashes into tree

An off-duty police officer has been charged after crashing his vehicle into a tree in Bowmanville over the weekend.

Durham Regional Police said they were called to the area of Liberty Street North, near Taunton Road, early Saturday, Nov. 21. It was reported that a vehicle had crashed into a tree.

When police arrived, they located the damaged vehicle, but could not find the driver. A canine unit and a York Regional Police helicopter were used in the search.

At approximately 4:20 a.m., police learned that a man had been driven to hospital by a passerby following the crash. A sergeant went to the hospital to charge the man, and learned the suspect was an off-duty officer with the Durham Region Police.

Det. Const. Scott Robertson, 36, of the fraud unit has been charged with impaired driving and failure to report an accident.

Anyone with more information on the case is asked to contact the DRPS Professional Standards Unit at 1-888-579-1520, ext. 4278, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).