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 injury of a 54-year-old man (the “Complainant”).

Notification of the SIU[1]

On October 20, 2025, at 6:30 p.m., the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) contacted the SIU with the following information.

On October 19, 2025, the Complainant was arrested for dangerous driving, uttering threats, and assault with a weapon. He was held for a bail hearing at the Blind River OPP Detachment, scheduled for October 20, 2025. At 1:35 p.m., October 20, 2025, the Complainant attended his bail hearing via video conferencing in the detachment. Upon being remanded, he was to be returned to his holding cell to await transport to the Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre (ATRC) in Sault Ste. Marie. The Complainant returned to Cell 1 but refused to enter. A struggle ensued between the Complainant and a special constable [Service Employee Witness (SEW)], Witness Officer #1 (WO #1), and the Subject Officer (SO). The SO pushed the Complainant into the cell. The Complainant fell and injured his shoulder. He was taken to the North Shore Health Network (NSHN) and diagnosed with a fractured shoulder.

The Team

Date and time team dispatched: 2025/10/21 at 8:05 a.m.

Date and time SIU arrived on scene: 2025/10/21 at 10:00 a.m.

Number of SIU Investigators assigned: 3

Number of SIU Forensic Investigators assigned: 0

Affected Person (aka “Complainant”): I

nterviewed; medical records obtained and reviewed

The Complainant was interviewed on October 21, 2025

Subject Official

SO Interviewed, but declined to submit notes, as is the subject official’s legal right

The subject official was interviewed on November 26, 2025

Witness Officials

WO #1 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

WO #2 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

The witness officials were interviewed on October 27, 2025

Service Employee Witness

SEW Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

The service employee witness was interviewed on October 27, 2025

The Scene

The events in question transpired in and around Cell 1 of the OPP Detachment in Blind River, 241 Causley Street.

Video/Audio/Photographic Evidence[2]

Custody Footage[3]

On October 20, 2025, the Complainant was captured sitting on a bunk in a cell [now known to be Cell 1].

Starting at about 00:32 minutes into the video, the SEW opened the cell door and the Complainant walked out into a hallway. He appeared unsteady on his feet and bumped into a wall.

Starting at about 01:06 minutes into the video, the Complainant and the SEW went through a doorway into the booking area [now known to be used as the video bail hearing room]. The Complainant sat in a wheeled chair in an office with a video monitor in front of him. The SO stood at the doorway.

Starting at about 03:26 minutes into the video, the Complainant stood and approached the video monitor. The SEW moved towards the Complainant, who sat back down. The SEW pointed towards the doorway. The SO moved into the space behind the Complainant’s chair, and WO #1 moved closer to the Complainant. The SO pushed the chair as the Complainant sat in it. The SEW opened the door to the hallway, and the SO pushed the chair through the doorway and down the hallway. WO #1 followed behind.

Starting at about 05:03 minutes into the video, the SEW turned to the left in the cell area and pointed to Cell 1. The Complainant walked through the doorway and turned towards the SEW. The SO entered and grabbed the Complainant’s left shoulder area, after which he pushed the Complainant with two hands towards Cell 1. The Complainant’s back went towards the cell door and he used his arms to stop himself going into the cell. The Complainant moved away from the cell doorway towards the SEW. The SO and WO #1 grabbed the Complainant, who was pushed against the closed cell door. The SEW opened the cell door, and the SO pushed the Complainant through the door into the cell. The Complainant fell backwards into the cell, landing on the floor on his left side. The Complainant grabbed his left shoulder with his right hand and sat up. His left arm was bent, and he held it against his body.

Communications Recordings & Computer-assisted Dispatch (CAD) Report

On October 20, 2025, at 3:33 p.m., the SEW called the OPP Provincial Communications Centre (PCC) and requested that an ambulance attend the Blind River Detachment. The SEW said that the Complainant was complaining of shoulder pain.

At 3:56 p.m., an officer advised the dispatcher that the Complainant was being transported to the hospital by ambulance. The dispatcher asked that officer to call the PCC sergeant as the sergeant had questions.

WO #1 arrived at the hospital with the Complainant. WO #1 later transported the Complainant from the hospital to the detachment. A man [believed to be the Complainant] yelled in the background that his shoulder was broken.

Materials Obtained from Police Service

Records Obtained from Service

The SIU obtained the following records from the OPP between October 22, 2025, and November 12, 2025:

• Custody footage
• Communications recordings
• Arrest Report
• CAD Report
• General Occurrence Report
• Notes – WO #1, WO #2 and SEW
• OPP policies – 2.41 Arrest / Detention; Use of Force
• Person Background Information – the Complainant
• Prisoner Log
• Use of Force Training Memo – the SO

Materials Obtained from Other Sources

The SIU obtained the Complainant’s medical records from the NSHN on November 6, 2025.

The material events in question, clear on the evidence collected by the SIU, may briefly be summarized.

The Complainant was arrested on October 19, 2025, on a number of charges, and lodged in Cell 1 of the OPP Blind River Detachment. The following day, in the early afternoon, the Complainant was taken to the booking area for a video bail hearing. The Complainant was denied bail and remanded into custody. This upset the Complainant, and he refused to lift himself from the wheeled chair in which he had sat for the hearing.

The SO was present in the booking room, together with the SEW. The SO walked behind the Complainant and pushed him in the chair out of the booking room and down the hall to the cell area. The SEW walked in front of the two and opened the cell door. WO #1 followed behind the SO and the Complainant.

At the threshold of the door leading to the cells, the Complainant rose from the chair and walked in the SEW’s direction instead of through the open cell door. The SO approached the Complainant and pushed him away from the SEW towards the cell. The Complainant’s back banged up against the cell, pushing the cell door momentarily closed behind him. The SO and the Complainant came together and tussled with one another as the SEW pulled open the cell door. With WO #1’s assistance, the SO pushed the Complainant into the cell, and the SEW closed the cell door.

The Complainant fell as he was pushed into the cell, landing on his left side. He would complain of pain in his left shoulder and was transported to a medical facility. He had suffered a fracture of the neck of the left humerus.

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 seriously injured while in police custody at the OPP Blind River Detachment on October 20, 2025. 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 injury.

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.

There are no questions raised in the investigation regarding the lawfulness of the Complainant’s detention at the OPP Blind River Detachment. Once in lawful custody, the police were entitled to exercise reasonable control over the Complainant’s movements to ensure his safety and that of his custodians.

The force used to return the Complainant to his cell following the bail hearing was legally justified. Upset that he had been denied bail, the Complainant refused to make his own way back to the cell. Once at the cell door, instead of walking straight into the cell, the Complainant turned to walk towards the SEW. The SO reasonably interpreted this movement as threatening and was within his rights in stepping between the two and pushing the Complainant towards the open cell door. Following that push, there is evidence that the Complainant continued to struggle against the SO’s efforts to force him into the cell. The parties fought for a few seconds before the SO gained the upper hand and pushed him into the cell. It is unfortunate that the Complainant fell and suffered a serious injury in the process, but that was the result of the Complainant losing his footing from the countervailing forces at play and not the product of unreasonable or excessive force used by the SO.

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

Date: February 10, 2026

Electronically approved by

Joseph Martino

Director

Special Investigations Unit