MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- The Special Investigations Unit says there are no reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges against a Barrie police officer after a man was seriously injured fleeing from police.
The police watchdog agency says the Nov. 11, 2015, incident began when officers received a call about a domestic assault.
Realizing the police had been called, the SIU says a 20-year-old man fled a home and encountered the officer, who turned his cruiser around in order to follow the vehicle.
Seconds later, the vehicle ran a stop sign and was t-boned by an SUV. The man ran into a wooded area, where he jumped a retaining wall fence that bordered a playground and fell eight metres.
He was taken to hospital and diagnosed with bleeding to his brain.
Acting SIU director Joseph Martino says civilian video of incident shows the pursuit was over before it began and it appears the man was not even aware that he was being followed.
"There is nothing to indicate, for example, that the officer made contact with the man at any time during what was a very brief foot pursuit in a wooded area," Martino said Wednesday in a release.
"In fact, the evidence from the video recording has the officer some three seconds behind the man as they disappear from the camera's lens into the field."
The SIU is an arm's length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
