High-ranking Toronto police officer charged with impaired driving after crash on Highway 401

A senior Toronto police officer has been charged and suspended with pay after he was caught allegedly driving while impaired with an open bottle of liquor following a collision on Highway 401 on Thursday.

In a news release issued Friday, police said that at approximately 7 p.m., a man was driving eastbound on Highway 401 through Pickering when he collided with a vehicle travelling in the same direction.

Police said that responding OPP officers believe the man was impaired at the time of the crash.

Toronto police Supt. Riyaz Hussein, 54, was charged with over 80 mgs operation of a motor vehicle, careless driving, and having care or control of a motor vehicle with open liquor.

Hussein -- who has 33 years of service with Toronto police -- has had his case assigned to the force’s disciplinary hearings office. He has been suspended with pay, police said.

According to the Toronto Police Service’s 2021 organizational staffing chart, Hussein is the head of the service’s disciplinary hearings office.

“The Toronto Police Service recognizes the public interest implicit in the hearing officer role and is releasing this information proactively to the public,” police said.

Police are asking anyone with information related to the investigation to contact them or Crime Stoppers.