'Single-vehicle collision' after attempted OPP stop involved 2nd vehicle, SIU confirms

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) now says a speeding car that fled Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) on Highway 417 last week crashed into a commercial truck before careening into a utility pole east of downtown Ottawa.

According to an SIU news release issued July 4, an OPP officer attempted to stop the driver of a black car for speeding on Highway 417 around 6:20 p.m. July 3.

The car failed to stop, the SIU said, and "a short time later, the driver of the car struck a pole on Star Top Road."

The driver, a 35-year-old man, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. A 22-year-old woman who was his passenger was also taken to hospital with serious injuries.

A separate news release from OPP on July 4 refers to the incident as a "single-vehicle collision" on Star Top Road.

However, surveillance videos captured by a business on Star Top Road and obtained by CBC News clearly show a speeding black sedan smash into the rear of a commercial truck before veering into a utility pole at the entrance of a building supply business.

The truck was attempting to turn left into a laneway just south of Algoma Road when it was struck. CBC has edited the videos to avoid showing the moment of impact.

Photos of the aftermath viewed by CBC News show the Boone Plumbing and Heating Supply truck on its side with its driver-side door flung open. The photos also show the black sedan, its front heavily damaged, resting against the pole amid debris from the collision.

On Friday, a supervisor with Boone confirmed one of the company's trucks had been involved in a collision and had been removed from the scene earlier that day. The company has not responded to CBC's inquiries about the condition of the truck driver.

Ottawa paramedics told CBC on July 4 they had transferred just two patients to hospital, one in serious and one in critical condition. On Monday, the SIU confirmed that "no other individuals were seriously injured" in the incident.

SIU confirms truck was struck

Both Ottawa police and members of the OPP's traffic incident management and enforcement team investigated the collision before turning the matter over to the SIU, whose mandate is automatically invoked whenever police are involved in an incident in which a member of the public is seriously injured or killed.

On Monday, Ottawa police declined to discuss the matter, referring questions to OPP and the SIU. OPP say they're unable to provide further information because of the SIU investigation.

On Friday, the SIU told CBC it had based its news release announcing the investigation "on preliminary information, meaning based on information police told us at intake." Investigators hadn't at that point seen the video of the car striking the truck, a spokesperson wrote.

"Based on a review of video evidence, the driver of the black car struck a truck then hit the pole," the spokesperson later clarified.

On Monday, the SIU said it routinely announces investigations before gathering all the details.

"Waiting to independently confirm every detail could take days or even weeks. In the interest of transparency and public awareness, we share what is known at the earliest stages, and we update the public where needed as the investigation proceeds," spokesperson Monica Hudon wrote in an email.

The SIU has assigned three investigators and two forensic investigators to the case. 

Hudon said it's difficult to predict how long the investigation will take.

"This will depend on how long it takes to locate and interview all witnesses, as well as the analysis of all evidence collected. In some cases, evidence is sent to an external agency for analysis," Hudon wrote.