Accused harasser cop allegedly shot self in leg in 2016, documents showAn OPP officer, who is alleged to have shot himself in the leg two years ago and falsely claiming the injury happened during an attempted carjacking, faces new criminal charges for allegedly harassing a London-area woman.An OPP officer facing criminal charges for allegedly harassing a London-area woman, also allegedly shot himself in the leg two years ago and falsely claimed the injury happened during an attempted carjacking.
Const. Darko Darkov, a member of the highway safety division in the Toronto area, was charged Aug. 22 with mischief, harassment and being unlawfully in a dwelling following incidents west of London when he was off duty, the OPP said.
Darkov also is charged with obstructing justice and neglect of duty under the Police Services Act (PSA), the law governing policing in Ontario and under which police forces hold disciplinary hearings into professional misconduct.
This isn’t the first time Darkov has faced criminal and professional misconduct charges, The Free Press has learned.
According to police documents, after allegedly shooting himself in the leg on Feb. 13, 2016, in his home, Darkov lied to doctors at Scarborough Hospital.
He is alleged to have told them the injuries to his hand, stomach and left thigh resulted from a mishap while he was using a knife to repair a mirror on his truck. But doctors believed a gunshot caused the injuries and called Toronto police, who apprehended Darkov under the Mental Health Act before releasing him two hours later, the documents say.
Darkov allegedly told investigators three different stories about how he injured himself: He said he shot himself while cleaning his gun, cut himself with a knife while working on his truck, and was shot during a carjacking, the documents say.
In the third alleged account, Darkov is said to have told police he was driving home from a restaurant and stopped to check the air pressure of his tires when three males approached him and said, “Yo, nice truck . . . I wanna ride. You gonna give me a ride?”
After declining, Darkov allegedly said he heard a “pop” and the trio ran off. He realized he was shot and put a tourniquet around his leg before going home and asking his mom to drive him to the hospital, the documents say.
As a result of the allegations, 21 officers were called in to investigate the case, including officers with a search warrant who canvassed his apartment building and seized surveillance video.
“You knowingly made untrue statements to police,” a two-page notice of hearing alleges.
“You knew or ought to have known that your conduct throughout this incident was discreditable.”
A disciplinary hearing related to Darkov’s 2016 professional misconduct charges is scheduled for Oct. 22 to 26 and Oct. 29 to Nov. 2, Staff Sgt. Carolle Dionne said, adding Darkov remains suspended with pay.
A seven-year service member, Darkov also was criminally charged with careless use of a firearm and public mischief stemming from the 2016 incident, but both of the charges were later withdrawn, court records show.
In the London-area incident, Darkov, 33, harassed a woman repeatedly between June 1 and Aug. 8 to the point she feared for her safety, entered her Middlesex Centre home without her consent and threw furniture around, according to allegations contained in court documents.
None of the allegations of professional misconduct or criminal wrongdoing against Darkov has been proven.
His Toronto-based lawyer, Harry Black, couldn’t be reached for comment.
The Ontario Provincial Police Association, the union representing 10,000 uniformed and civilian OPP members, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
A conviction under the Police Services Act carries penalties ranging from docked pay and suspension without pay to demotion or termination.
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