The blue bulletproof vest.Here's a forum relevant one. Super drunk ahole cop did a hit and run on a motorcycle in 2019. Beat DUI with a charter challenge, other charges are still pending and he is still suspended with pay. PSA needs to change.
York cop faces charges including fail to remain after vehicle hit motorcyclist following baseball tournament
York Regional Police Const. Nathan Coates had over-80 charge thrown out after charter applicationwww.thestar.com
A York Regional Police officer who was originally charged with drunk driving and dangerous driving causing bodily harm after hitting a motorcyclist had his impairment charge dropped after a successful charter application, as his trial on the remaining charges got underway.
Const. Nathan Coates is charged with hitting Stuart Sweeney while Sweeney rode his motorcycle down Hwy. 7, near York Durham Line, on Sept. 29, 2019 after 7:15 p.m..
Following the crash, in which the Crown suggest Coates crossed the centre line, the Stouffville-based officer is alleged to have fled the scene, only for his Nissan Pathfinder to break down mere kilometres away.
It was at this point that police say he was located by an off-duty tow-truck driver who called police, explaining that Coates was drunk, according to the charter application.
"This guy’s hammered," the document quotes the man as saying.
Coates would later blow 148 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, it further alleges.
These facts have not been tested in court due to the successful charter application.
On June 1, Justice Jonathan Dawe agreed with Coates' defence that the 14-year veteran of the service was treated unfairly by York Regional Police following his arrest because no demand for a breath sample was made prior to Coates speaking to a lawyer.
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"In my view, it was not only 'practicable' for (the officer) to make his demand (for a breath sample) before Mr. Coates spoke to duty counsel, but it was essential that he do so to ensure that Mr. Coates could properly obtain legal advice about whether he had to comply with the demand," Dawe wrote in his pre-trial application decision. "I am not satisfied that the Crown has met its burden of establishing that (the officer’s) breath demand, or the warrantless seizure of Mr. Coates' breath sample that followed it, were lawful."
On June 6, Coates' trial got underway, with three of the original four charges remaining, including failure to remain, causing bodily harm while operating a vehicle, and dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
It began with Sweeney testifying how Coates’ vehicle 'aggressively' swerved into his lane across Hwy. 7’s centre line before striking the side of his 2019 Harley Davidson, sending Sweeney skidding into a ditch.
The court also heard an emotional 911 call in which Sweeney, from Pickering, complains to the operator that he could not feel his arm and that his leg was badly damaged.
Sweeny, who used to play triple-A hockey, would later have his left leg amputated above the knee.
In one exchange, Coates’ defence questioned Sweeney if it was possible that he had high beam on or whether it might have been he who crossed the centre line.
"I do not ride with my high beams on," Sweeney told the court, also denying that he crossed the centre line.
The collision happened following a baseball tournament at Milliken Mills Park in Markham.
Coates' teammates from the baseball tournament also appeared in court, each one suggesting they had all been drinking after losing the big game. One man suggested Coates brought a bottle of rum to the game.
The trial also heard lawsuits have been filed against the City of Markham, the baseball association and Coates, who is currently on paid suspension from the police force.
Regardless of the outcome of the trial, Coates, who is from Oshawa, will face a professional standards hearing at York Regional Police.
The trial continues.
I'm not sure but I assume Sweeney has to pay for his own legal team. His insurance will have minimal compensation due to the near criminal destruction of victim compensation by the insurers.
The cop will likely have his union or York region pay for his legal defense and they have obviously earned their pay.
This is disgusting. Like HTA 172 innocent until proven guilty so he keeps his paycheque. If found guilty he pays it back----not going to happen. If they put him behind a desk or polishing the chief's boots he's working and the pay can't be taken back.
