In a rare move, the province's Special Investigations Unit has charged a Toronto officer with assault causing bodily harm and dangerous driving in connection with a car chase earlier this year.

Const. Ricardo Gomez, who has worked mainly out of 12 Division since joining the force eight years ago, was serving a stint with the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy, TAVIS, earlier this year.

On March 4, at 9:40 p.m., he became involved in a pursuit along Danforth Ave. The vehicle Gomez was trailing was involved in a collision and a Toronto man was injured, said SIU spokesperson Jasbir Brar.

Lawyer David Butt, representing Gomez, said the reason his client was pursuing the car will come out in court. "We respect the importance of (the SIU's) mandate completely and we are confident that a full review of this situation will show that PC Gomez engaged in no wrongdoing whatsoever," said Butt.

The SIU is a civilian agency responsible for investigating all cases of death, serious injury or sexual assault involving police.

According to its 2007-08 annual report, during the SIU's last statistical year, the agency investigated 246 occurrences, laying charges against 10 officers in connection with seven incidents.

The last time the SIU charged an officer was in June. An Ottawa officer, Const. Shyldon Safruk, was charged with assault causing bodily harm for allegedly assaulting a cab driver.

The agency has been the subject of three government-ordered reviews, the most recent released last year. In September, the Ontario Ombudsman's office released a review in which the SIU was accused of "police bias" by Ombudsman André Marin, a former SIU director.

Staff Sgt. Gary Mulholland, who works with Gomez at 12 Division, refused to comment on the rarity of SIU charges, but said Gomez was a skilled officer. "I guess he's one of the better young officers I had on the shift," said Mulholland.

Gomez was investigated by internal officers in connection to a 2005 incident where he fired his gun. He was cleared.

He will appear in court on Sept. 14.

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