Ontario’s police watchdog concluded its investigation finding found no reasonable grounds to believe an officer committed a criminal offence in the death of a 25-year-old man from Midland who was struck and killed by a police vehicle in Bala.
According to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer was driving an unmarked police vehicle on the morning of Sept. 29, 2024, when she struck the Midland man on Highway 169 as he attempted to cross the road near Musquash Road.
The SIU’s report states the young man, identified by loved ones as Noah Landriault, and another individual had left the Bala Bay Inn shortly before 6 a.m. and were walking east toward Muskoka Road 169.
The agency says the officer, driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee, was travelling north on Muskoka Road 169 and “would not likely have a view” of the two individuals until seconds before the collision, noting video of the crash shows the Jeep’s headlights clearly illuminating the pedestrians as they crossed. It states the officer braked hard, but Landriault was struck by the front left corner of the vehicle and “projected forward and onto the ground.”
The officer immediately exited the Jeep and ran to the injured man, while the other pedestrian called 911. The officer spoke with the dispatcher and, according to the report, stated, “I’m the one that hit him. I was coming down 169, Bala, two males walking,” and telling the dispatcher she was driving 70 km/h.
Landriault was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
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The SIU report states it received the postmortem examination on March 20, revealing the 25-year-old man’s death was attributable to “blunt impact head trauma.”
SIU Director Joseph Martino states in the report that it remains unclear why the collision happened, noting the officer’s speed as she approached the point of impact is subject to “legitimate scrutiny.”
“Had the [officer] been travelling at or near the 50km/h speed limit, she would have had more time to react,” Martino wrote in the report, adding," I’m not satisfied that the officer’s speed amounted to a marked departure from a reasonable standard of care. The [officer’s] speed was more than it ought to have been, but not grossly so."
Based on the report, the SIU closed the case.
Loves ones described Landriault as a kindhearted man with a zest for life and a talented lacrosse player. A GoFundMe campaign was launched shortly after his death, reading in part, “Noah was just starting to find his place in this world as a young adult when this happened.”
