TORONTO — Two police officers are facing criminal charges for their alleged involvement in a deadly wrong-way highway pursuit that killed four people, including an infant and his grandparents, Ontario's police watchdog said Friday.
The Special Investigations Unit said two Durham regional police officers have each been charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing death and two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
The April 2024 crash on Highway 401 east of Toronto immediately raised questions about why police allegedly pursued a robbery suspect into oncoming traffic on one of Canada's busiest highways.
The ensuing six-vehicle crash also seriously injured the infant boy's parents, who were all travelling together in a sedan.
Durham regional police Chief Peter Moreira called it a "tragic and catastrophic event that devastated a family and profoundly impacted a community."
He declined to answer questions about the SIU's findings in a brief news conference on Friday. He said the force would also conduct its own internal investigation as required by law.
The SIU declined to offer further comment with the case before the courts.
The watchdog has previously said Durham officers gave chase around 8 p.m. on April 29 to a cargo van identified as a vehicle of interest in an alleged Clarington, Ont., liquor store robbery reported by an off-duty officer.
Police pursued the cargo van through local streets and eventually followed it into oncoming highway traffic at Stevenson Road in Oshawa.
The 21-year-old man driving the cargo van died in the crash and a 38-year-old male passenger was injured.
The grandparents killed in the crash had just arrived in Canada from India for a family visit days before, their son said.
In a statement shared by SIU shortly after the crash, Gokulnath Manivannan said losing his 60-year-old father, 55-year-old mother and three-month-old son had left him with profound grief.
The two officers who have been charged are set to appear in an Oshawa court on February 13.
Moreira, the police chief, said the officers had been suspended with pay and they would be assigned to administrative duties "if and when they are reinstated."
He said he believed one officer had over 32 years of experience while the other had four.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2025.
The Canadian Press
