Parents survive deadly wrong-way crash that killed infant son in Whitby: SIU

The province’s police watchdog says the parents of a three-month-old infant survived the fatal crash that killed their son and his grandparents during a wrong-way multi-vehicle crash in Whitby.

The Special Investigations Unit says five people were in a Nissan Sentra that was struck by a cargo van being pursued by Durham police going the opposite direction in the eastbound lanes of Highway 401 on Monday night.

According to the SIU, a 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman who were both visiting from India were killed in the crash along with the infant. The 33-year-old father and 27-year-old mother from Ajax both survived the crash and were taken to hospital for treatment.

The SIU says the driver of the cargo van, a 21-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene while his 38-year-old passenger was taken to hospital suffering from serious injuries. The pair reportedly fled the scene of a robbery at an LCBO in Clarington when an off-duty officer who was at the store called in the theft.

The pursuit ended approximately 20 minutes later between Lake Ridge Road/County Road 23 and Brock Street when the van was involved in a crash that included at least six other vehicles.

Audio of the chase reveals at least one Ontario Provincial Police officer expressing concern that “someone is going to get hurt” after seeing the high speed chase going in the wrong direction on the highway. Questions have now been raised about the police pursuit and if it contravened the province’s Community Safety and Policing Act.