OPP officer charged in crash that seriously injured a London mother and her daughter

A provincial police officer is facing three criminal charges, including dangerous driving causing bodily harm, after an OPP vehicle collided with a taxi cab in South London last summer, seriously injuring a mother and her nine-year-old daughter.

The charges against Middlesex OPP officer Timothy Groves were announced Thursday by the director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Joseph Martino.

Groves is charged with one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and two counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.

He is to appear in court in London on June 2.

The incident took place at the intersection of Southdale Road and Verulam Street on July 28, 2019.

It happened while the OPP was in pursuit of two suspects from a bank robbery in Sarnia, who drove to London on Hwy. 402 and continued intothe south end of the city.

Two passengers in the cab, 27-year-old Porsche Clarke and her nine-year-daughter, Skyla, were admitted tohospital with critical injuries.

The cabbie, a driver with U-Need-A Cab, was not injured.

• Cabbie shaken after crash with OPP that left girl, 9, and woman in critical condition

Shortly before the crash involving the cab, a differentOPP vehicle, also in pursuit of the bank robbers, struck a car on Wellington Road and Greenfield Drive. The SIU did not investigate that crash because it did not result in serious injuries.

Police eventually caught up with the suspect vehicle and arrested two men, aged 21 and 23.

The SIU said it will have no further comment on the chargesinvolving the OPP officer while the matter is before the courts.