The Special Investigations Unit has invoked its mandate after a vehicle that was allegedly fleeing police slammed into a light standard in Leaside, injuring a 60-year-old passenger.

The SIU says that officers were travelling westbound on Eglinton Avenue near Bayview Avenue at around 12:30 p.m. when they attempted to stop the vehicle.

The SIU says the vehicle initially drove away but collided with a light standard near Eglinton Avenue and Rumsey Road a short time later.

At that point, the driver of the vehicle fled the scene on foot.

Meanwhile, the 60-year-old female passenger was taken to hospital with a serious back injury and another passenger was taken into custody.

Speaking with CP24 earlier in the day, Const. David Hopkinson said police initially attempted to stop the vehicle because the officers suspected the people inside may have been armed.

The male suspect remains on the loose and Hopkinson told CP24 that he may be armed with a gun.

The area where the collision occurred was cordoned off and officers conducted an extensive search at the scene but to no avail.

“I would like to keep people away from the area if they don’t have any business there just to give the officers the opportunity to try and locate what could be a potentially dangerous suspect,” Hopkinson said earlier in the day.

The Special Investigations Unit invoked its mandate and announced that they would investigate the Leaside incident shortly after 6 p.m.

The circumstances surrounding the incident remain murky; however one resident told CTV News Toronto earlier on Thursday that he saw two men running “very fast” down the street.

“They didn’t seem to be jogging, they seemed to cut right across the path,” they said. “One of them was clutching something and said, ‘I need to get rid of this… What do I do? What do I do?’ and the other one said ‘dump it.’ It was dumped into a neighbours waste can.”

Police have not said whether a discarded firearm has in fact been located.

The SIU is an arm’s length agency called in to investigate any interaction between a police officer and member of the public that results in death, serious injury or an allegation of sexual assault.

The SIU has assigned two investigators and two forensic investigators to the case.