A Barrie police officer has been committed to stand trial on a charge of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
Justice Allison Dellandrea ordered Mike Chytuk to be tried on the single charge following a three-day preliminary hearing, which ended last week. He is to appear in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Nov. 5.
Chytuk was saddled with the charge following an investigation by the province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) in connection with a shooting during the pursuit of robbery suspects in September 2018 in the city's east end. At the time, he had been with the force for 28 years and working as a sergeant.
According to information released by police at the time, Chytuk was responding to a robbery around 4 a.m., Sept. 17, 2018, when the encounter with a suspect in a car occurred.
Officers called to the robbery identified “persons of interest” at a gas station on the corner of St. Vincent and Grove streets. When a vehicle with two men and two women fled, Chytuk fired, the SIU later determined. The vehicle crashed into a tree at the bottom of St. Vincent Street and the occupants fled on foot, three of whom were eventually arrested.
It wasn’t until almost a month later, when the fourth suspect was arrested by Toronto police, that it was determined he had suffered a gunshot wound in the pursuit.
Chytuk was charged the following January and was suspended with pay.
According to the province’s Sunshine List, Chytuk has remained on the city police payroll, receiving $125,498.28 in 2019, along with $626.95 in benefits. He’s been on the list of high earners working in the public sector in Ontario since 2014, when he earned $114,109.21 and received $508.24 in benefits.
Justice Dellandrea, who heard the preliminary hearing, normally sits on the bench in Brampton, but was asked to come to Barrie as an out-of-town judge not familiar with the accused.
The Barrie Crown’s office is also not involved in the case.
