There are no grounds to charge any Ottawa police officers related to the death of a 23-year-old London murder suspect, according to the Special Investigations Unit.
Muhab Sultan, wanted in connection with the murder of Jeremy Cook, died in Ottawa on June 24.
The SIU investigation found that a green Toyota, driven by Sultan, struck an Ottawa officer on his bicycle as the officer and his partner were questioning Sultan and an associate on Cumberland Street.
Sultan fled from the scene in the Toyota. When officers finally caught up with the vehicle, they managed to arrest his passenger but Sultan got away on foot.
He took refuge in the shed of a backyard on a residential property on Marlborough Avenue, but left when the homeowner discovered him and called police.
From his hideout on Marlborough Avenue, Sultan travelled east across a property on Range Road and then to the west bank of the Rideau River where he entered the water.
A number of officers arrived in the area and were alerted to Sultan’s presence in the nearby river by his screams for help. Sultan was about half way to the other side when he began to have difficulties in the water.
The SIU says officers tried to save him by swimming to his location. However, disappeared under the water before they could reach him.
“There is no basis on this record to reasonably conclude that the subject officers committed a criminal offence in connection with Mr. Sultan’s death,” says SIU acting director Joseph Martino said. “Indeed, they acted valiantly by jumping into the river in an effort to save Mr. Sultan from drowning.”
Sultan’s body was recovered on June 27, downstream from the location in the river where he was last seen. The pathologist at autopsy ascribed Sultan’s death to drowning, pending the results of histological and toxicological testing.
The SIU assigned four investigators and one forensic investigator to probe the circumstances of this incident.
As part of the investigation, six civilian witnesses and four witness officers were interviewed. Statements from additional civilian witnesses were reviewed, as were notes from several other officers.
