An Ottawa man says he caught it all on camera in the moments that led to a confrontation with an off-duty police officer. Matt Baczynski says he had pulled over the driver on the shoulder of a two-lane road, which led to a warning that the officer would visit his home later that day with a ticket. He says the incident only lasted a few minutes if that, but ended up with hundreds of dollars in fines and six demerit points. Bacinski says he was driving on Mitch Owens Road, pulling up behind the off-duty officer. “When I got on his tail, I got a little too close and had to brake really hard to slow down to 65 kilometers per hour,” Baczynski said. “Shortly after that, he put his blinker on to turn left and as he started to brake, just off Bowesville Road, I decided to try and maneuver around him and get him on the shoulder, there’s a paved shoulder here. From what I understand it’s legal and that’s what I’ve always done.” Moments later, he says the driver canceled the left turn and instead followed behind him. At one point, he said someone used an obscene gesture from the vehicle. “He decided to get on my right side because the light turned red and at that point he yelled to open the window,” she said. Video provided to CTV News Ottawa includes audio of a man yelling, “Roll down your window. Hey guys, I’m an off-duty cop, run me off the road again and I’ll pay you a visit tonight, do you understand? Shut up .”
Bachinski says about six hours later there was a knock on his door. “He served me with a careless driving ticket and he took the time to look at my file and he could see that I didn’t update my sticker so he gave me another ticket for $110,” she said. The two tickets totaled $600 in fines and six demerit points. “Just the tally to put someone on the shoulder,” Baczynski said. “This experience has left me feeling very vulnerable, I’ve lost a lot of sleep and worry about the future of my driving licence. I have a clean record. I have for many years.” He says he reported what happened to the Ottawa Police Service’s professional services unit within days. Ottawa police declined to be interviewed by CTV News, but say they are not confirming or denying the existence of an ongoing investigation, adding that all complaints are taken seriously and will be investigated. “I would like to see an apology from the officer personally and to be held accountable for his actions,” Bachinski said. He says he also wants tickets to drop.
