Ontario’s police watchdog invoked its mandate after an officer was involved in a collision in north Etobicoke late Friday afternoon.
At around 5 p.m., Toronto police were responding to a break-and-enter in progress at a business on Claireville Drive, a spokesperson for the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) told CP24.
When police arrived, the SIU said some of the involved suspects ran away while others took off in a vehicle, prompting a Toronto police officer to drive after them in pursuit.
The police cruiser was struck by the driver of another vehicle at the intersection of Humberline Drive and Finch Avenue West. The vehicle involved was not the one being investigated by police, SIU said.
The SIU said a 61-year-old man was transported to hospital with serious injuries. Paramedics told CP24 on Friday the officer was taken to a trauma centre with serious, but non-life threatening injuries.
The SIU invokes its mandate when police are involved in an incident that results in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.