Police misconduct possible in fatal Ottawa crash investigation, watchdog says
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OTTAWA – Ontario’s police watchdog has stopped its investigation into a fatal Ottawa car crash in January, but says there may be evidence of misconduct by police officers who went to the scene.
The Special Investigations Unit says a 24-year-old man was speeding down Bank Street the night of Jan. 23 with a blood alcohol concentration more than twice the legal limit when he fatally crashed into a snow-covered ditch.
The SIU says a passing driver stopped and called 911, and the responding officers searched the vehicle and surrounding area but didn’t find anyone and left.
It says the next morning, the man’s wife reported that he had not come home from work and an Ottawa police officer went to the crash site, where the man’s body was found partially buried in the ditch several metres from the car.
The SIU says it discontinued its investigation into the crash after an autopsy showed the man would have been dead before the first officers arrived, so the agency does not have jurisdiction to investigate the incident as there’s no reason to believe they contributed to his death.
But the SIU says it identified “what appeared to be evidence of misconduct” by the officers who first went to the scene, and the matter has been referred to Ottawa’s police chief and the province’s law enforcement complaints agency.
The Canadian Press has reached out to Ottawa police for comment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 25, 2026.