Alleged sexual assault under investigation
Provincial agency looking at Durham police after woman makes allegations of being assaulted while being arrested in Pickering
By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is again looking at Durham police after a woman alleges she was sexually assaulted while being arrested.
The female was being arrested during a traffic stop in Pickering on Thursday, May 28 and was being transported to West Division in Pickering. It is there that the woman alleges a male officer sexually assaulted her.
Durham police following the incident, as per police protocol, contacted officials from SIU, a provincial agency which investigates incidents when police are accused of wrong doing in the carrying out of their duties or if someone is injured in the course of police action.
In the last few years, at least four cases relating to Durham police have passed through the hands of investigators with the SIU.
The latest was in March when SIU investigators cleared Durham police of any wrongdoing after a man in police custody said he was injured.
At approximately 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 16, police responded to a call of an intoxicated male at 28 Albert St. in Oshawa, who was later brought to the DRPS Central Cellblock in the downtown core. According to a news release from Durham police, the man then complained of injuries.
“There was no basis in the evidence that the injuries were caused by police,” Monica Hudon, spokeperson for SIU, told The Oshawa Express at the time.
In March 2013, SIU investigators concluded their investigation into injuries sustained by Shawn Alves after being shot at by police following a standoff at a funeral home on Dec. 26, 2012.
Alves pleaded guilty last year to charges stemming from the incident and was sentenced to four years and three months in prison.
In July 2013, investigators cleared Durham police of any wrongdoing after a truck involved in a police pursuit lost control near King Street and Stevenson Road and went over a curb, hitting three people.
Investigators from SIU have recommended charges against a Durham police officer in the past. In July 2011, Const. Bradley Browne was charged with one count of dangerous driving causing bodily harm after hitting a motorcyclist on Taunton Road the month before.
Browne was found not guilty at his trial in February 2013 and was cleared of all charges.