February 15, 1999

Innocent driver in critical condition just days after report calls for new tougher rules

A 21-year-old Brampton woman has been critically injured by a vehicle fleeing police, just days after a provincial report urged tighter restrictions on police chases. 

Sarah Bowman is fighting for her life in a Toronto hospital. She was pulling out of a Queen St. plaza about 2:30 a.m. yesterday when a car speeding at up to 140 km/h raced through a red light and slammed into the driver's door, knocking her car across the intersection and into a vehicle stopped for the light. 

She suffered massive internal injuries and paramedics lost trace of her vital signs on the way to Peel Memorial Hospital. Doctors were able to revive her and she was later transferred to the regional trauma unit at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Science Centre. 

She remained in critical condition last night. 

The province's special investigations unit said the pursuit began when an officer conducting a criminal investigation approached a car to speak to the driver. The car had been reported stolen about five hours earlier. 

The officer was speaking to the driver when the car sped off. Police then gave chase. 

The driver of the fleeing car jumped from the wreckage and tried to run away but was caught by Peel Region police. 

The accident comes after the release last week of a long-awaited report by Solicitor-General Bob Runciman that proposed new rules governing police in chases and stiffer penalties for motorists who try to elude them. 

The deaths of three innocent bystanders during high-speed police chases in the past nine months played a key role in pushing for tighter rules. 

The report recommends seed funding for police helicopter test projects, more money for police training, and the implementation of a ``test'' that would provide officers with a mental checklist to review before engaging in a chase.

 Tow truck driver Joe McNutt told The Star he was eastbound on Queen St., just west of Highway 410, when the speeding car and pursuing police cruiser ``blew right by'' him. 

He said the cruiser had slowed considerably to go through a red light at another intersection and was about 300 metres behind when the fleeing car crashed into Bowman's silver Ford. 

``The car ran the red light,'' McNutt said. ``He just blew through the intersection and T-boned her car.'' 

It is believed Bowman had just picked up food from a drive-through window at a Burger King in the Bramrose Plaza and was heading home when the accident occurred. 

Kamaljeet Saran, 19, was working the overnight shift at a Petro-Can service station on the opposite side of Queen St. when he heard the siren from an approaching police car. 

``I heard the police car coming and then a crash,'' he said. 

He watched as the driver of the fleeing car ran from the crumpled wreckage and into the parking lot of the plaza. 

``He was running toward the Sears store when police got him,'' Saran said. 

The woman was trapped in the vehicle and had to be rescued by Brampton firefighters. 

At around 9:20 p.m. Saturday night, Liem Bui discovered his blue 1988 Oldsmobile had been stolen from a parking lot near the pizza shop where he works on Bloor St. W. near Lansdowne Ave. in Toronto. He reported it to police. 

When he went to Peel Region police 22 Division station in Brampton yesterday morning, an officer told him his car had been severely damaged in a crash. 

``They said the one who stole my car hit a woman,'' Bui said last night when contacted at the pizza shop. 

Three officers with the special investigations unit, which probes circumstances involving police and civilians that have resulted in serious injury or death, have been assigned to probe the crash. 

A separate probe is being conducted by Peel's special accident investigation unit to gather evidence and file charges against the driver who tried to outrun police. 

Sources said Peel police and SIU investigators are reviewing tape recordings of radio transmissions from the police officer involved in the pursuit. 

Among the points of review will be an estimate during the chase that the car was fleeing at up to 140 km/h. 

Peel police remained tight-lipped about details of the investigation. Once the SIU is called in, they are forbidden from discussing the case with the media. 

SIU lead investigator Shelagh McAllister did not return calls yesterday. 

A Peel officer was posted at Sunnybrook's critical care unit to try to obtain information from Bowman. 

Family members gathered at the hospital to be by her side. 

Stiffer fines and penalties - including criminal sanctions - were proposed by Runciman for drivers who attempt to elude officers. 

Such incidents resulted in the deaths of: 

Clyde Barnaby, 73, who was riding his bicycle when he was hit and killed by a stolen van being chased by Toronto police. Two officers and a young offender were charged in the May 11 incident. 

According to statistics provided by the ministry of the solicitor-general, injuries to innocent bystanders account for 10 per cent of all injuries sustained in high-speed chases. 

In 1994, four of the six people killed during police pursuits were innocent third parties. 

Statistics like that infuriated Brampton resident Esme Fegan, who was at the scene. 

``I think it's disgusting,'' said Fegan, 59. ``You can replace a stolen car, but you can never replace a human life.'' 

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With files from Nicolaas van Rijn and Philippe Devos

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