Police watchdog investigates after stolen truck suspect bitten by dog, hit by Taser in Brampton
Ontario's police watchdog is investigating after a suspect in a stolen truck investigation in Brampton was bitten by a police dog and struck by a conducted energy weapon early Friday.
The Special Investigations Unit says the man, still in hospital, suffered a neck injury and in a tweet described the injury as "serious." The man remains in police custody.
The SIU said the incident began at 4:15 a.m. when Peel Regional Police noticed a tractor trailer near Kimbel Street and Torbram Road in Mississauga.
Officers followed the truck and tried to pull it over in the McLaughlin Road South and Steeles Avenue West area, it said. In the process, the SIU said the truck collided with the cruiser and that the driver was removed from the vehicle.
The Special Investigations Unit said it has assigned five investigators, two forensic investigators and one collision reconstructionist to investigate the incident.
Const. Rachel Gibbs, spokesperson for Peel Regional Police, offered a slightly different version of events before the SIU invoked its mandate.
She said officers tried to pull the stolen truck over on McLaughlin Road South near Steeles Avenue West, then tried to box in the vehicle when it rear-ended the police cruiser. The SIU said it was a collision.
Gibbs said the two suspects fled on foot and were pursued by police. The SIU statement does not mention a chase. Initially, Gibbs described the man's injuries as minor.
McLaughlin Road South is still closed at Steeles Avenue West as the SIU investigates.
