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:

• The name of, and any information identifying, a subject official, witness official, civilian witness or affected person.
• Information that may result in the identity of a person who reported that they were sexually assaulted being revealed in connection with the sexual assault.
• Information that, in the opinion of the SIU Director, could lead to a risk of serious harm to a person.
• Information that discloses investigative techniques or procedures.
• Information, the release of which is prohibited or restricted by law.
• Information in which a person’s privacy interest in not having the information published clearly outweighs the public interest in having the information published.

Freedom of Information and Protection of Personal Privacy Act

Pursuant to section 14 (i.e., law enforcement), certain information may not be included in this report. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Confidential investigative techniques and procedures used by law enforcement agencies; and
• Information that could reasonably be expected to interfere with a law enforcement matter or an investigation undertaken with a view to a law enforcement proceeding.

Pursuant to section 21 (i.e., personal privacy), protected personal information is not included in this report. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• The names of persons, including civilian witnesses, and subject and witness officials;
• Location information;
• Witness statements and evidence gathered in the course of the investigation provided to the SIU in confidence; and
• Other identifiers which are likely to reveal personal information about individuals involved in the investigation.

Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004

Pursuant to this legislation, any information related to the personal health of identifiable individuals is not included.

Other proceedings, processes, and investigations

Information may also have been excluded from this report because its release could undermine the integrity of other proceedings involving the same incident, such as criminal proceedings, coroner’s inquests, other public proceedings and/or other law enforcement investigations.

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 injuries of a 30-year-old woman (the “Complainant”).

Notification of the SIU[1]

On October 11, 2024, at 10:41 a.m., the Toronto Police Service (TPS) contacted the SIU with the following information.

On September 24, 2024, TPS were referred a Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA) complaint filed by the Complainant on August 5, 2024. Reportedly, while at a demonstration at the Avenue Road and Highway 401 overpass on January 13, 2024, the Complainant was pushed by a TPS officer, whom she identified as “[first name initial, last name]”. The Complainant fell to the ground, striking her head and tailbone. She stood up and was pushed to the ground again. Paramedics attended and she was taken to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (SHSC) where she was diagnosed with a concussion and hairline fracture to the lower back.

The Team

Date and time team dispatched: 2024/10/11 at 11:52 a.m.

Date and time SIU arrived on scene: 2024/10/11 at 2:09 p.m.

Number of SIU Investigators assigned: 3

Number of SIU Forensic Investigators assigned: 0

Affected Person (aka “Complainant”):

Interviewed; medical records obtained and reviewed

The Complainant was interviewed on October 25, 2024.

Subject Official (SO)

SO Declined interview and to provide notes, as is the subject official’s legal right

Investigative Delay

The investigation was delayed owing to resource pressures impacting the investigation team and the Director’s Office.

The Scene

The events in question transpired on and around the median that separated Avenue Road from the Highway 401 eastbound on-ramp.

The median was covered with snow, but the sidewalk and roadway were wet and cleared from snow. The Complainant fell the first time on the median between the Highway 401 eastbound on-ramp and the sidewalk. She fell the second time on the roadway on the Highway 401 eastbound on-ramp.

Video/Audio/Photographic Evidence[2]

BWC Footage – Officer #1

The recording began at 2:01:21 p.m., January 13, 2024. Officer #1 and other police officers were on Avenue Road, south of Highway 401, on the median separating Avenue Road northbound from the Highway 401 eastbound on-ramp.

At 2:37:47 p.m., the Complainant approached Officer #1, pointed at him and asked, “Is your bodycam on?” She was holding up her cellular telephone, recording and began to walk away, southbound. Someone screamed and people were pushing and shoving. The Complainant turned and walked towards the crowd. A male police officer [the SO] was directing the crowd to move, and he yelled, “Keep moving south! Let’s go!” The Complainant was standing directly in front of the SO. The SO put his hand on a man’s shoulder, shoved him and said, “You’re going.” Officer #2 and the SO pushed the Complainant, and she stumbled and fell to the ground. She sat on the ground for a few seconds, after which people in the crowd went to help her. Officer #1 turned to direct a woman off the roadway. When he turned back around, the Complainant was still on the ground with people around her. They helped the Complainant to her feet.

Starting at about 2:42:25 p.m., the Complainant was captured walking south before lowering herself to sit on a curb. A woman walked over to the Complainant and said, “Back.” She helped the Complainant to a standing position and yelled at the police officers.

BWC Footage – Officer #2

The recording began at 2:22:59 p.m. Officer #2 was at the traffic light on the south side of the overpass on Avenue Road and Highway 401. He told an unknown man that the police did not want anyone congregating on the bridge.

Starting at about 2:38:25 p.m., police officers were attempting to take someone into custody on the roadway. Officer #2 turned towards the Complainant and the crowd on the median, and yelled, “Get back! Everybody back! Everybody back!” He turned towards the Complainant and told her to get back.

Starting at about 2:38:31 p.m., Officer #2 and the SO pushed the Complainant backward. She stumbled to her right and fell on the median. Other members of the crowd went over to assist her. The police officers continued to instruct the crowd to get back and stay off the road. The Complainant sat in the snow on the median and appeared to be crying. A man said, “Call an ambulance. You threw her on the ground.” People in the crowd helped the Complainant to her feet. A woman attempted to escort the Complainant away and a police officer tried to direct the crowd off the road and towards the sidewalk. The Complainant stood in front of a police officer and yelled, “I just got pushed down. I got pushed down by one of your officers.” She turned to Officer #2 and said, “The biggest threat to my safety is you.” Several police officers repeatedly told the crowd to get off the road and onto the sidewalk. The Complainant walked away south on the median.

Starting at about 2:39:42 p.m., the SO appeared to be holding the Complainant’s upper right arm with his left hand and pushing her backward off the median. A woman with a green toque walked behind the Complainant with her arms stretched out. The SO released his grip of her arm, and the Complainant fell into the woman’s hands. The woman with a green toque guided the Complainant to the ground. The Complainant went onto her buttocks. Officer #2 walked around a police officer. The Complainant was helped to her feet by a woman wearing a green toque and two police officers. The police officers continued to yell commands at the crowd to get off the road.

BWC Footage – (Unassigned BWC)

The recording began at 1:51:40 p.m. The unknown police officer and other police officers moved towards the crowd. Several people in the crowd were recording the police officers and crowd.

Starting at about 2:34:32 p.m., the Complainant was seen with her right arm on the back of a man in the crowd. The Complainant continued to go back and forth with a female police officer and told the police officer they had nowhere to move. The crowd continued to argue with the police about not having anywhere to go. The Complainant argued with a male police officer about pushing. The police officer asked if she was the “slow walker”. She said, “Actually, yes. Yeah, you have an issue with that? Is there, is there an issue with walking slowly? Is there a speed limit for walking?” People in the crowd laughed. She asked again if there was a speed limit for walking. Several police officers again said, “Let’s go!” as they moved closer and pushed the crowd. People were on the ground and people in the crowd yelled for an ambulance. The unknown police officer assisted with taking a man into custody. The crowd and police officers moved towards the Highway 401 eastbound on-ramp and the median between the ramp and Avenue Road.

Starting at about 2:39:47 p.m., the Complainant was helped to her feet by a police officer and a woman wearing a green toque. The woman said the Complainant needed medical attention. The Complainant was crying and said, “My back hurts.” A male police officer was telling them to move out of the roadway. The police officer put his left hand on the Complainant’s left shoulder; she had her back to him. She turned and screamed, “Don’t touch me!” The police officer guided the Complainant and the woman wearing the green toque across the sidewalk east of the on-ramp.

BWC Footage – Officer #3

Officer #3’s BWC captured the Complainant in the crowd telling police officers to turn their BWCs on, and the police officers directing her and the crowd to move to the sidewalk.

BWC Footage – Officer #4

Officer #4’s BWC captured the Complainant sitting on the ground after she was pushed by Officer #2 and the SO.

Materials Obtained from Police Service

Upon request, the SIU obtained the following records from the TPS between November 6, 2024, and February 3, 2025.

• The Complainant’s TPS contact history
• List of involved officers
• BWC footage – Officer #2, Officer #5, Officer #3, Officer #1, Officer #4, Officer #6, and two unknown police officers[3]

Materials Obtained from Other Sources

The SIU obtained the following records from the following other sources between October 16, 2024, and November 15, 2024.

• The Complainant’s medical records from SHSC, University of Toronto, and individual doctors
• The Complainant’s LECA complaint

The evidence collected by the SIU, including interviews with the Complainant and video footage that largely captured the incident, gives rise to the following scenario. As was his legal right, the SO did not agree an interview with the SIU or the release of his notes.

In the afternoon of January 13, 2024, a group of TPS officers, including the SO, convened just south of the Avenue Road overpass over Highway 401, around the median that separated Avenue Road from the Highway 401 eastbound on-ramp. They were there to police a demonstration. The Complainant was among the citizens that had gathered in the area.

As the crowd grew and started to encroach onto the roadway, the officers began to direct that they move southwards and to the east, onto the Avenue Road sidewalk. Some of the demonstrators were slow to comply with the officers’ directions and the officers began to take hold of them to escort them away.

The Complainant had been proceeding southward as directed when something caught her attention and she began to walk north again, recording something with her cellphone. She was confronted by the SO and Officer #2, each of whom extended an arm in her direction and pushed her backward. The Complainant stumbled and fell to the ground. The time was about 2:38 p.m.

Shortly thereafter, the Complainant was on the median in front of the SO when the officer took her by the upper arms and walked her backward. The Complainant lost her footing stepping off the median curb onto the on-ramp and fell backward. She was partially caught by a woman standing behind her, who cushioned her impact as she landed on the roadway. The Complainant was helped to her feet and moved to the side of the road.

The Complainant felt unwell and was seen by paramedics at the scene. She was transported to hospital and eventually diagnosed with a concussion and possibly acute fractures of the coccyx and sacrum.

Section 25(1), Criminal Code - Protection of Persons Acting Under Authority

25 (1) Every one who is required or authorized by law to do anything in the administration or enforcement of the law

(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,

is, if he acts on reasonable grounds, justified in doing what he is required or authorized to do and in using as much force as is necessary for that purpose.

The Complainant was diagnosed with possible fractures and a concussion following an interaction with TPS officers on January 13, 2024. The SIU was notified of the incident and initiated an investigation, naming the SO the subject official. 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 injuries.

Pursuant to section 25(1) of the Criminal Code, police officers are immune from criminal liability for force used in the course of their duties provided such force was reasonably necessary in the execution of an act that they were required or authorized to do by law.

The SO and the other TPS officers were lawfully placed and in the execution of their duty to preserve the peace and protect life and property as they attempted to move a group of demonstrators onto a nearby sidewalk and away from live lanes of traffic. The health and safety of the demonstrators and motorists were at stake, and moving the protesters towards the sidewalk seemed a reasonable tactic.

The Complainant was among the demonstrators who, though largely peaceful, were slow to heed the officers’ directions. On both occasions that she was pushed by officers, she was advancing directly towards police who were attempting to move the crowd backward. In the circumstances, the use of some force was reasonable to move the Complainant. This consisted in a push backward of minimal force. It is regrettable that the Complainant fell in each instance, but that is likely to have had more to do with the slippery and uneven surface conditions than any unnecessarily heavy-handed conduct by the officers.

For the foregoing reasons, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case. The file is closed.

Date: October 7, 2025

Electronically approved by

Joseph Martino

Director

Special Investigations Unit