A mistrial has been declared in the case of a York Regional Police officer who killed a teenaged pedestrian while speeding during an undercover surveillance operation.

Prosecutors will take two weeks to decide whether they’ll retry Const. Remo Romano’s case, the court heard, after a jury couldn’t reach a verdict following two days of deliberations. Romano had been charged with dangerous driving causing death in the 2014 collision which killed 18-year-old Carla Abogado.

In notes to Ontario Superior Court justice Ian Nordheimer, jurors described themselves as being deadlocked, at a stalemate and finally, on Wednesday afternoon, at a permanent impasse.

After Nordheimer declared a mistrial and discharged the jury, Romano shared emotional hugs with his family.

Abogado’s family wasn’t in court when the mistrial was declared.

As they left the courthouse later, they told a reporter: “We are physically and emotionally stressed. We just want justice for Carla.”

It was shortly after 8 p.m. on February 12, 2014, when Romano, 44, was driving at 115 km/h in a 60 km/h zone, trying to catch up to his fellow officers tailing a white van possibly linked to a series of break-ins.

His unmarked pickup truck hit Abogado as she crossed St. Clair Ave. E. after getting off a bus. She was thrown an estimated 80 metres and died at the scene, the jury heard during a short trial.

The police officer of 13 years testified in his own defence through tears and placed the blame on Abogado. He just did not see the 18-year-old as she stepped into his lane, wearing dark clothes and possibly with headphones on, he told the jury.

Defence lawyer Bill MacKenzie told the jury what happened was a tragic and devastating accident.

Under the Highway Traffic Act, police officers are sometimes permitted to speed during the lawful performance of their duties, the jury heard.

But the case wasn’t about speeding, Crown Phil Perlmutter told the jury in his closing submissions; it was about dangerous driving, he argued.

Romano was part of a six-member property crimes team working on Project Litterbox, an investigation that had been going on for more than a month focused on a series of non-violent break-ins at commercial properties.

If Romano had been going even 80 km/h, he could have swerved or stopped before hitting Abogado, the Crown argued.

Perlmutter said the four-lane road Romano was driving on was lined with residential homes and bus shelters, with a senior’s centre nearby.

Jaywalkers frequently crossed the road.

In his closing submissions, MacKenzie told the jury “the defence position is that Ms. Abogado made a fateful decision to cross St. Clair at the time and location that she did . . . She chose not to walk to the controlled intersection 75 metres west, but rather chose to cross where she did.”

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Abogado stopped in the middle of the road before stepping into the eastbound passing lane where she was hit, MacKenzie said. Any vehicle going more than 80 km/h would have struck her, he said.

Romano was not distracted and was scanning the road, but like other drivers on the road that night, did not see Abogado, MacKenzie said.

The case returns to court on June 1.