

Chris Fox, CP24.com





A police officer who fired 23 shots into the engine block of a stolen vehicle in the Distillery District back in 2015 has been docked seven days pay after pleading guilty to a Police Service Act offence.

On Sept. 16, 2015, officers boxed in a stolen Toyota Corolla at the intersection of Parliament and Mill streets.

As two officers struggled with a suspect through the open window of the Corolla, Const. Tash Baiati discharged his firearm in an attempt to disable the vehicle.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Baiati “rapidly discharged 14 rounds” into the vehicle’s engine compartment at point-blank range and then after the vehicle “lurched forward approximately 12 inches” decided to fire another 9 rounds.

Following the incident, a Professional Standards investigation concluded that the Criminal Code of Canada justified Baiati’s decision to discharge his weapon however the investigation found that Baiati should face a non-criminal charge for violating a TPS procedure which prohibits officer “from discharging a firearm at a motor vehicle for the sole purpose of disabling the vehicle.”

Baiati then pled guilty to the offence of insubordination in September.

In a written ruling released on Monday, hearing officer Richard Hegedus acknowledged that Baiati was “concerned for his safety and that of his peers” on the day in question but he said that should not “provide an excuse for his actions.”

“Constable Baiati discharged multiple rounds at a motor vehicle in a busy area of the city at midday,” Hegedus wrote. “The potential for a round to go astray and strike an unintended target was ever-present and his actions presented an unacceptable risk to the public.”

Hegedus pointed out that the suspect that was operating the stolen Corolla “had a long criminal record and had previously used his vehicle as a weapon to drag a police officer 25 meters” but he said that Baiati did not know his history at the time.

In rendering his decision, he said that Baiati’s employment history, acceptance of responsibility, and guilty plea were all mitigating factors while the danger to public safety and the harm that was done to the reputation of the Toronto Police Service were aggravating factors.

“When viewed objectively, though the situation was dangerous, the operator of the vehicle did not drive at the officers or strike them with the vehicle,” Hegedus wrote. “There were other actions Constable Baiati could have taken that did not involve the discharge of his firearm.”