OPP officer accused of manslaughter says he tripped, fell into suspect car

Const. Sean O'Rourke on Thursday testified that he tripped and fell into the car Nicholas Grieves was driving shortly before Grieves' death — and that he doesn't know how the gun he was carrying went off. 

O'Rourke is on trial this week for manslaughter in a judge-alone trial in Chatham Superior court. He has pleaded not guilty. 

Grieves, 24, was living in Windsor at the time of his death and was a member of Six Nations of the Grand River.

On July 7, 2021, the OPP responded to a call about a gasoline theft at a gas station along Highway 401 in Dutton, Ont. Officers located the vehicle, believed to be travelling westbound, and followed it. 

"A theft fuel call is almost all the times coupled with more serious criminal activities," O'Rourke told the court as the rationale for making the pursuit.

O'Rourke said the car's "continuous weaving" made him believe the driver was impaired, fatigued or texting while driving.

O'Rourke said he and another officer, Sgt. Bradley Cooke — who testified Tuesday — agreed to perform a tandem stop, in which a vehicle is boxed in to stop it. 

But O'Rourke said Grieves kept accelerating.

"The operator of the vehicle came over into my lane and rammed the front of my trooper," he said. "It was shocking. It astonished me … I never had anyone ram my police vehicle let alone at 100 kilometres [an hour] … it was very violent, unexpected and intentional."

'Neither the passenger nor the driver were obeying commands'

O'Rourke said after the impact, he saw Grieves' car spin and land in the ditch. 

"It conducted a full 360 [degree] turn," he said, adding that the vehicle's passenger side tires lifted off the ground several inches.

O'Rourke said he then could see the driver in his rear view mirror and understood there was a front passenger, too.

"I could directly see into the eyes of the driver. His eyes were extremely crazed, bugging out of his face," he told the court.

O'Rourke said he saw the driver looking at the centre console, which he found "concerning," and thought Grieves was trying to get a weapon. 

"The Grieves family will have to excuse me but this driver was completely crazed. He didn't care about me."

O'Rourke says he drew his firearm and started ordering the driver to show his hands.

"Neither the passenger nor the driver were obeying commands … their hands were down."

'The gun went off… I didn't know how'

O'Rourke said he stepped forward to see what the driver was doing as he kept rummaging through the centre console.

"I stumbled forward, much like stubbing a toe on a piece of furniture … losing balance and I was propelled into the car," he said. 

O'Rourke said his hands and shoulders were now in the car as he kept holding his gun with his elbows locked out and arms extended, with his gun accessible to the front seat passengers. 

He demonstrated to the court how he was holding his gun with both hands with his fingers on the firearm's slide. 

O'Rourke said he didn't see a gun inside and started struggling to get free. 

"The gun went off. It completely shocked me. I didn't know why. I didn't know how," he told the court in tears.

He said he removed himself from the car and immediately administered first aid. 

He told the court they performed CPR on Grieves and he also did an artificial resuscitation, and eventually EMS arrived and took over.

O'Rourke says he felt his actions met the bar for the police use of force model, which says there must be a risk of serious bodily harm or death. The model was discussed in Wednesday's court proceedings. 

"There's no question. I absolutely felt that the situation met the mandate of serious bodily harm or death," he said.

On Wednesday, a firearms expert who had examined O'Rourke's gun testified it was in good working order. 

The Crown is expected to cross-examine O'Rourke on Friday.

O'Rourke, who joined the Chatham-Kent OPP detachment in 2004, has been suspended with pay since being charged by the unit in 2022.