Owen Sound Police Invoke Repeat-Offender Bail Program After 'Dangerous Series of Events' Leads to Arrest
Police allege the man struck a cruiser, drove onto a sidewalk past a family with a stroller, and removed the GPS monitor he was required to wear.
Owen Sound Police have charged a 24-year-old Owen Sound man after an attempted arrest Sunday afternoon ended with a marked cruiser being struck and a pickup truck driven onto a sidewalk, according to a police release.
None of the allegations have been proven in court. Kurtis Miller faces multiple Criminal Code and Highway Traffic Act charges. Police have not said which ones, or how many.
Police described the incident as a dangerous series of events. They say officers tried to arrest Miller at about 4:50 p.m. on July 26 after finding him driving a pickup truck while allegedly breaching release conditions.
According to the release, he resisted, started the vehicle and drove off, striking a marked cruiser and coming close to hitting officers.
Police say the truck was then driven onto a sidewalk, and that several pedestrians — including a young woman and a family with a child in a stroller — moved to avoid it. No one was physically injured.
While officers searched, police say they were told the GPS ankle monitor Miller was required to wear had been deliberately removed and discarded. The truck was found abandoned a short time later.
Police say he was arrested with help from the OPP, including canine and aviation units, after allegedly attempting to break into an occupied home.
Police say Miller was on bail at the time, facing outstanding drug and weapons charges and subject to several court-ordered conditions including electronic monitoring. Those charges have also not been proven.
The release states Miller was referred to the Intensive Serious Violent Crime Bail Program because of what police describe as the serious risk he poses to the community.
Asked what the program involves, Police Chief Craig Ambrose told the Current it is an enhanced bail package prepared by police and provided to a specific Crown attorney who handles these matters.
The additional information, he said, gives the Crown a better opportunity to keep an accused in custody where the allegations are serious and the accused has a history of failing to comply with release conditions.
The name traces to an Ontario initiative announced in April 2023, when the province committed $112 million to bail compliance measures. Of that, $26 million went to establishing Intensive Serious Violent Crime Bail Teams — units of dedicated prosecutors and subject-matter experts working with police to prepare for complex bail hearings, with priority on repeat accused and those facing firearm charges. The province proposed legislation in 2025 to make the teams permanent.
A referral does not place an accused into a program or impose anything on them. It is a step taken by police to strengthen the Crown's case at a bail hearing. The decision on release rests with the court.
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