MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - The Special Investigations Unit says there will be no charges against a provincial police officer after a couple died in a car crash while fleeing police in Orillia.
SIU director Ian Scott says there are no reasonable grounds to charge the officer with a criminal offence in the deaths of Jacob Sabourin, 28, and Rachel Merredew, 19.
The Kingston couple died when their car, driven by Sabourin, hit a concrete pole following a police pursuit on May 3.
Investigators say the officer saw a Honda Civic driving erratically on Highway 11 north of Barrie and tried to pull it over but the driver sped off.
When the officer checked the Honda's plate number and found it was not registered to that vehicle, he began a pursuit and activated his emergency equipment.
Other officers joined pursuit as the Honda sped up to 140 km/hr, drove over a spike belt and headed into Orillia, but the agency says police ended their chase before the fatal crash.
The SIU report says Sabourin continued to flee, failed to negotiate a left curve and collided with the pole.
Six witness officers were interviewed and one officer was designated a subject officer. He declined to be interviewed or supply his notebook entries to the agency, as is his right.
Scott said the officer involved had the lawful authority to initiate pursuit, followed the rules and committed no crime.
"Although extremely tragic, Mr. Sabourin lost control of his vehicle after driving in a dangerous manner in an attempt to flee from the police," he said.
The Special Investigations Unit is an arm's-length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
