SIU cancels investigation into Cambridge traffic stop crash

Ontario’s police watchdog says there is no need to investigate an attempted police pullover in Cambridge that ended with a vehicle crashing into rocks.

This happened soon after midnight on the morning of Aug. 21, when a Waterloo Regional Police officer allegedly spotted an SUV running a red light on King Street East at the 401 ramps.

The Special Investigations Unit said the officer followed the SUV to Shantz Hill Road and Fountain Street South, and then turned on his police cruiser lights.

But as the driver tried to pull into a parking lot, the SIU said it crashed into boulders on the edge of the lot.

The SIU said the 53-year-old driver told the officer her brakes failed and she couldn’t stop.

She was taken to hospital, but her injuries were deemed to be not serious.

The SIU said that means it “was without statutory jurisdiction in this case” to investigate. The agency has a minimum criteria for how badly someone has to be hurt in a police interaction to merit an investigation.

And the agency’s statement added there was some video evidence of what happened, and it was clear the police officer “operated his cruiser safely at all times.”

The case has been closed.