Director's Report Details

The Special Investigations Unit is a civilian law enforcement agency that investigates incidents involving an official where there has been death, serious injury, the discharge of a firearm at a person or an allegation of sexual assault. Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, 2019 (SIU Act), officials are defined as police officers, special constables of the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers under the Legislative Assembly Act. The SIU’s jurisdiction covers more than 50 municipal, regional and provincial police services across Ontario.

Under the SIU Act, the Director of the SIU must determine based on the evidence gathered in an investigation whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that a criminal offence was committed. If such grounds exist, the Director has the authority to lay a criminal charge against the official. Alternatively, in cases where no reasonable grounds exist, the Director cannot lay charges. Where no charges are laid, a report of the investigation is prepared and released publicly, except in the case of reports dealing with allegations of sexual assault, in which case the SIU Director may consult with the affected person and exercise a discretion to not publicly release the report having regard to the affected person’s privacy interests.

Special Investigations Unit Act, 2019

Pursuant to section 34, certain information may not be included in this report. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following: 

Pursuant to section 15 of the SIU Act, the SIU may investigate the conduct of officials, be they police officers, special constables of the Niagara Parks Commission or peace officers under the Legislative Assembly Act, that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault or the discharge of a firearm at a person.

A person sustains a “serious injury” for purposes of the SIU’s jurisdiction if they: sustain an injury as a result of which they are admitted to hospital; suffer a fracture to the skull, or to a limb, rib or vertebra; suffer burns to a significant proportion of their body; lose any portion of their body; or, as a result of an injury, experience a loss of vision or hearing.

In addition, a “serious injury” means any other injury sustained by a person that is likely to interfere with the person’s health or comfort and is not transient or trifling in nature.

This report relates to the SIU’s investigation into the serious injury a 45-year-old man (the “Complainant”) suffered.

Notification of the SIU

On May 16, 2022, at 9:43 a.m., Toronto Police Service (TPS) contacted the SIU with the following information.

On May 15, 2022, at 10:24 p.m., the Complainant called police to report he was wanted. He was heard yelling at someone in the background during the call. At 11:30 p.m., police officers arrived at the Complainant’s home in the area of Danforth Avenue and Pharmacy Avenue, but he refused to open the door. The police officers obtained a Feeney warrant [1] and breached the door, but the Complainant refused to exit the apartment. On May 16, 2022, at 4:00 a.m., the Emergency Task Force (ETF) was called and, at 4:20 a.m., the Complainant was arrested and taken to 14 Division station. While being processed, the Complainant complained of sore ribs and asked to be taken to a hospital. Police officers transported the Complainant to the Toronto Western Hospital where, at 8:48 a.m., he was diagnosed with fractured ribs.

The Scene

The incident occurred at an apartment in the area of Danforth Avenue and Pharmacy Avenue, Toronto.

The scene was not attended by SIU investigators as it was initially reported the scene had not been secured.

TPS later released scene photographs taken after this incident occurred, documenting damage to the exterior and interior sides of the apartment entry door, consistent with observations from the body-worn camera (BWC) recordings. The door had a significantly-sized section of the panel missing around the handle.

Video/Audio/Photographic Evidence [2]

911 Call Recording

On May 15, 2022, at 10:36 p.m., the Complainant called 911 asking police to check on the well-being of his infant and that of the baby’s mother. He explained that he had had an argument with the baby’s mother and had not been able to contact her in several days. In the call, the Complainant said the baby’s mother told him she was going to call the police to report him as well and, as such, he did not know if there was a warrant for his arrest. The Complainant added he was concerned that if police attended his home for the matter, “…there’s a potential that I could get arrested and I am not going to let anybody put their hands on me for some allegation. So therefore, there will be an allegation if they try to come arrest me for nothing.” In the call, the Complainant also mentioned that he was flustered, emotional, and had mental health issues.

In the police response to the Complainant’s apartment, phone calls made from the scene were captured in the BWC recordings.

Communications Recordings

The communications recordings were unremarkable as all dialogue among the involved WOs and the SO was captured on the BWC recordings.

BWC Recordings

BWC recordings from the five police officers [3] provided detailed accounts of their actions, discussions among each other, and the planning to execute the warrant against the Complainant. The following is a summary of the footage in it totality.

WO #4, WO #1 and the SO arrived at the Complainant’s home at 11:34 p.m. on May 15, 2022. They knocked at the door several times but received no response from inside the apartment. WO #2 arrived shortly thereafter.

When the Complainant refused to exit the apartment, calls were made to 14 Division investigators, who then sought and acquired a warrant authorizing the Complainant’s arrest within his dwelling.

About three hours later, at 2:29 a.m., May 16, 2022, WO #2’s BWC recorded him detailing the telewarrant for the Complainant’s arrest, authorizing the police officers to enter the apartment between the hours of 1:45 a.m. and 8:59 p.m. on May 16, 2022, for two counts of domestic assault.

After failing to convince the Complainant to open the door, the police officers contacted the building management and arranged for someone to attend with a key or master key to the apartment. The key did not function in unlocking the door.

The police officers continued making other arrangements. In a phone call at 3:03 a.m., WO #2 advised someone that the ETF was notified but the involved police officers were not in a rush to enter the apartment as the man had no history of weapons or mental illness.

At about 3:08 a.m., the SO removed the entry door’s peep hole but discovered the interior side had been covered.

At 3:11 a.m., WO #2 called an ETF sergeant. He advised that 14 Division police officers had obtained a Feeney warrant for the Complainant’s arrest and that he was refusing to open the door. He inquired whether the ETF wanted to attend.

At 3:15 a.m., WO #3 arrived with a ram and bolt cutter.

Following his call to the sergeant, WO #2 advised WO #4, WO #1 and the SO, and WO #3, that they were going to breach the door.

At 3:18 a.m., the SO struck the apartment entry door nine times with the ram. The door was not breached but a hole was created beside the door handle through which the Complainant then communicated with the police officers, still refusing to open the door.

Nine strikes in the area of the handle and dead bolt caused the door to deflect significantly but it was never breached.

When the Complainant refused to open the door and exit the apartment, WO #2 called the ETF again and arranged for them to attend, advising that the Complainant had told the police officers he would defend himself if they entered.

At 3:23 a.m., WO #3 left the building. He went to his cruiser where he printed a copy of the warrant and returned to the apartment door.

At 3:33 a.m., WO #2 called the Complainant through the hole in the door. He told the Complainant he had a copy of the warrant, but the call went unanswered.
ETF police officers arrived at the scene at 4:05 a.m. The sergeant was shown the warrant prior to the team positioning by the Complainant’s apartment door. At around 4:20 a.m., the apartment door was opened and the Complainant surrendered. He was handcuffed with his hands behind his back and escorted to a cruiser.

In-car Camera System (ICC) Recordings

In the ICCS recording from the SO’s cruiser, [4] the Complainant was seen seated in the rear seat to be driven to the police station. While entering the cruiser, the Complainant told the SO that he was paranoid and said, “Why would I want to go to the door and be put in jail with people that I never did a crime with?”

When the SO advised the Complainant that he was being recorded, the Complainant said, “So you were there when I was at the door, and you busted in. That hurt my back, my back is hurting now because of that.” The SO responded, saying, “I understand that, and I’m gonna make sure that I do an Injury Report regarding that. Ok ‘cause I was the one using the ram.” The Complainant said, “Oh, OK, well so you’re the one who hurt me.” The SO replied, “That’s right.” When the Complainant thanked him for admitting that, the SO replied that he had nothing to hide.

14 Division Station Video Recordings

The video recording of the Complainant’s booking captured his response to being asked if he had any injuries. At 5:14 a.m., the Complainant said, “I was standing up against the door while it was being rammed and my rib right here, it hurts. I was standing up against the door and they, like, punched a hole through the door.” He further said the police officer who rammed the door was “this gentleman”, while gesturing toward the SO.

Materials Obtained from Police Service

Upon request, the SIU received the following materials from TPS between May 17, 2022, and June 2, 2022:

• Scene Photographs;
• BWC footage;
• ICCS footage;
• Communications recordings;
• General Occurrence Report;
• Computer-assisted Dispatch Report;
• Notes-WO #4;
• Notes-WO #1;
• Notes-WO #3;
• Notes-WO #2;
• Telewarrant to Arrest (Feeney);
• Warrant for Arrest; and
• Injury/Illness Report.

The material events in question are clear on the evidence collected by the SIU, including BWC footage that captured most of the incident, and may be summarized in short order.

Section 25(1), Criminal Code -- Protection of persons acting under authority

(a) as a private person,

(b) as a peace officer or public officer,

(c) in aid of a peace officer or public officer, or

(d) by virtue of his office,

The Complainant was seriously injured in the course of his arrest by TPS officers on May 16, 2022. One of the officers – the SO – was identified as the subject official in the ensuing SIU investigation. The investigation is now concluded. On my assessment of the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the SO committed a criminal offence in connection with the Complainant’s arrest and injuries.