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Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit is investigating the collision because of the alleged police involvement. According to the SIU, an Ottawa police officer tried to stop the car on Rideau Street and “when the vehicle did not stop, the officer followed it along Rideau Street.” It’s not clear how the car got from Terminal Avenue to Rideau Street or if police were following it the entire time.

The collision occurred a few minutes later — paramedics were called at 12:06 p.m. — at the corner of Nicholas Street and Laurier Avenue East.

The SIU was careful not to call the incident a police chase in its media release, spokeswoman Monica Hudon said Friday morning. The investigation is ongoing, she said.

But a witness who was on a nearby bus at the time told the Citizen she saw police chasing the car. Carleton University student Kaitlyn Clark was on a westbound No. 96 bus when she watched a white car speed past, pursued by an Ottawa police cruiser. Moments later, her bus came upon the collision scene and Clark watched as more police vehicles arrived.

Photo by Darren Brown / Ottawa Citizen

Photo by Darren Brown / Ottawa Citizen

The car struck just below the driver’s seat on the left of the bus, which was an articulated, airport-bound No. 97. The impact crushed the front end of the Mercury. Several crumpled beer cans were visible in the back window after the crash.

Clark said police handcuffed the driver, who was limping but did not appear to be seriously hurt.

Ottawa paramedics said the 50-year-old man was treated for neck and back injuries and was in hospital in stable condition.