THUNDER BAY – Constable David Dennie, a thirty-six year old OPP Officer was killed on Thursday when his SUV was struck by a transport truck on Highway 17 near Blind River Ontario. The Constable was deployed in Blind River for the past twelve years. He was off-duty at the time.
The OPP Officer’s vehicle was eastbound on Highway 17, when the westbound transport impacted his vehicle. The cause of the accident is still under investigation. Officers from Sault Ste. Marie, Espanola and North Bay are engaged in the investigation.
Dennie’s vehicle was eastbound, the transport westbound, when the crash happened one kilometre east of the community at about 7 a.m.
The driver of the transport, a sixty-one-year-old man from Thunder Bay, was treated for minor injuries and and released.
The transport truck was carrying light freight cargo. There were no dangerous goods and nothing was spilled on Highway 17.
OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis met with Dennie’s wife and the deceased officer’s co-workers in Blind River and Elliot Lake. “We hate to ever lose any members of our organization – uniform or civilian – but the reality of life unfortunately is that on occasion that does occur,” said Lewis en route to Elliot Lake on Thursday. “It has a big impact on the small detachment. Our Northern detachments are tight because the communities are more isolated. They really stick together. The loss of any member of the team is devastating on a local level.”
