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Friday, April 11, 2003

LAST WEEK IT WAS SNOW, THIS WEEK IT IS GRASS FIRES Garden River, Ont., Last week at this time a spring snowfall was moving into this area and blanketed the area with about 15 cms of snow. What a difference one week makes. Yesterday Sault Ste.
SooToday Staff
LAST WEEK IT WAS SNOW, THIS WEEK IT IS GRASS FIRES
Garden River, Ont.,

Last week at this time a spring snowfall was moving into this area and blanketed the area with about 15 cms of snow.

What a difference one week makes. Yesterday Sault Ste. Marie O.P.P. responded to a report of a grass fire on the Garden River First Nation.

At about 4:00 p.m. yesterday, the Garden River Fire Department and the Sault Ste. Marie O.P.P. attended to a second grass fire beside Hwy 17 about two kilometers west of Echo Bay. The fire department was able to extinguish the fires before any damage was done.

What's next week going to bring??


OPP Charges Members with Misconduct
Garden River, Ontario

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Professional Standards Bureau has charged two OPP members under the Police Services Act following an internal investigation into the investigation of a fatal motor vehicle collision that occurred on the Garden River First Nation, east of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

In early August 2001, five family members from the First Nation community were killed when an oncoming vehicle on Highway #17 collided with their car. A Sault Ste. Marie resident was subsequently charged with careless driving.

The internal investigation was initiated in November 2002, after the Justice of the Peace hearing the case against the accused driver halted the trial. The stay of proceedings followed allegations by defense counsel that the Crown had provided incomplete and late disclosure of materials relating to their prosecution.

Charged with Neglect of Duty in relation to the investigation of the collision are Senior Constable Ronald Dinsdale and Senior Constable Christina Covey, his supervisor at the time. Both officers are currently assigned to the Sault Ste. Marie detachment.

The officers are scheduled to make their first appearance before the Ontario Provincial Police Adjudicator at OPP General Headquarters in Orilla April 16, 2003 (Senior Constable Covey) and May 14, 2003 (Senior Constable Dinsdale).