SIU invokes mandate after suspected impaired driver collapses at Brampton bar hours after being released

Ontario’s police watchdog has launched an investigation into the release of a suspected impaired driver from custody after that individual collapsed at a bar and was later pronounced dead.

The Special Investigations Unit says that a 48-year-old woman was initially arrested for impaired driving in the Caledon area at around 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

The SIU says the woman was then taken to the Ontario Provincial Police Caledon detachment, where she provided a breath sample.

The SIU says that the woman was eventually released from custody and later attended a Brampton bar, where she collapsed shortly after 2:30 a.m.

She was taken to hospital but was pronounced deceased some time later.

On Monday, the SIU confirmed that they have invoked their mandate in the case. They told CP24 that the investigation will be “focused on the circumstances surrounding the woman’s release from custody” earlier in the night.

Three investigators and two forensic investigators have been assigned to the case.