SIU investigating after driver who allegedly fled scene of Hwy. 400 crash injured during arrest

OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt gives an update on the investigation into a multi-vehicle crash on Hwy. 400 near Vaughan, where a driver fled the scene.

The province’s police watchdog is investigating injuries sustained by a driver who was arrested by police after officers allege he fled the scene of a three-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Vaughan early Thursday morning.

OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt told reporters Thursday that at around midnight, the driver of a green panel van rear-ended a minivan in the northbound lanes of the highway near Bass Pro Mills Drive.

The minivan then made contact with a third vehicle that was being driven by an off-duty police officer.

“When officers got to the scene, they determined that one of the vehicles had left in an attempt to apprehend and locate the driver of another vehicle who had fled the scene,” Schmidt said, later confirming that it was the off-duty officer who left the scene and initially pursued the suspect.

The suspect was later taken into custody with the assistance of Toronto police and York Regional Police, Schmidt added.

Injuries the suspect sustained during the arrest are now the subject of an investigation by the province’s police watchdog.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) confirmed Thursday that it will be probing the circumstances surrounding the arrest and the injuries the driver sustained during an interaction with police.

The SIU was unable to provide details about the nature of the man’s injuries but Schmidt said they are not believed to be life-threatening or life-altering.

Schmidt was unable to confirm the age of the driver or his place of residence.

The collision shut down the northbound lanes of the highway for several hours but reopened shortly before 9:30 a.m.

“It has been very frustrating for motorists in the area as the highway has been shut down since midnight,” Schmidt told reporters at the scene shortly before the highway reopened.

He noted that the rest of the investigation will be carried out “off the highway.”

“We are investigating impaired, dangerous driving, and the fact that he fled from the scene,” Schmidt said.

He added that police are asking witnesses to come forward, including anyone with dash camera footage of the area at the time of the incident.