Dozen charges laid after driver rams cruiser, flees police in Sudbury

An undated photo of a Greater Sudbury Police Service vehicle. (File photo/Supplied/Greater Sudbury Police Service)

A 22-year-old man is in custody facing a dozen charges, including assaulting a peace officer and impaired driving, after a chaotic series of events in Sudbury that began with a traffic stop and ended with a collision and a foot pursuit early Sunday morning.

The incident has prompted an investigation by the province’s Special Investigations Unit, which probes interactions between police and civilians that result in serious injury.

Early morning traffic stop escalates

The Greater Sudbury Police Service said officers initiated a traffic stop on Elm Street at Paris Street around 2:20 a.m. on Oct. 26 after observing the driver make “multiple unsafe driving maneuvers.”

“Upon speaking with the driver, officers detected signs of impairment,” police said in a news release Monday.

The situation escalated as officers were preparing to administer a roadside screening test. Police say the driver suddenly drove his vehicle into a parked police cruiser with its emergency lights activated, then struck another vehicle before fleeing the scene down Lloyd Street towards the Kingsway.

Taken into custody after a foot pursuit

A short time later, police were notified that the same vehicle had been involved in a single-vehicle collision in the area of the Kingsway and Falconbridge Road. Witnesses reported the driver had fled on foot.

Sudbury police members, along with the canine unit, converged on the area.

The canine unit located the driver and took him into custody without further incident at about 3:25 a.m.

“While in police custody, a breath technician administered an Intoxilyzer and the driver blew well over the legal limit,” police said.

SIU invokes mandate after injuries sustained

The accused was transported to police headquarters and faces a lengthy list of charges.

During the process, the suspect sustained what police described as “serious but non-life-threatening injuries.”

As a result, the Special Investigations Unit has invoked its mandate.

“Therefore, we are prohibited from providing any further information related to the incident,” said the police service.

A dozen charges

The 22-year-old has been charged with three counts of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, resisting arrest, flight from a peace officer, obstructing a peace officer, dangerous operation of a vehicle, failing to remain, failing to stop for police and failing to comply with a probation order in addition to two impaired driving offences – including having a blood alcohol concentration of more than 80.

The man attended weekend bail court on Sunday to answer to the charges.

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