OPP officer charged after road rage incident

A Wellington County OPP sergeant, arrested and charged after a recent road rage incident, has now been suspended.

He was not on duty at the time.

Sergeant Rui Pacheco, a 19-year officer, was charged with two counts of assault and two counts of uttering threats.

“It was an altercation that took place after an incident that had happened while driving, with a few other parties in another vehicle,” said Alanna Russell, Waterloo Regional Police Service spokesperson.

Pacheco was arrested by Waterloo Regional Police on March 14 at around 7am, one day following the incident in Cambridge.

The OPP Professional Standards Branch (PSB) has launched an investigation into the incident, which could lead to charges under the Police Services Act.

OPP spokesman Sergeant Dave Rektor said the matter was being investigated internally but did not provide details.

Pacheco was suspending follwing a meeting with the PSB on March 16.

Wellington County OPP detachment commander Inspector Scott Lawson said, “I’m confident (in) the process … we’ll trust that process, and it’ll follow as it should and I would hope that we haven’t lost the public’s confidence in our organization and in our detachment in particular."

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