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 38-year-old woman (the “Complainant”).

Notification of the SIU[1]

On January 1, 2026, at 11:38 a.m., the York Regional Police (YRP) contacted the SIU with the following information.

On January 1, 2026, at 8:38 a.m., an employee of a housing support centre in Newmarket called 911 to report that a female - the Complainant - was yelling and being aggressive with staff. The Complainant had been asked to leave. At 8:47 a.m., a YRP officer arrived and spoke to the Complainant. The officer attempted to arrest the Complainant and she became assaultive by breaking the skin on his arm with her fingernails. The Complainant was grounded and handcuffed. At 8:53 a.m., Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were requested as the Complainant’s eyebrow piercing was bleeding. She was transported by EMS to Southlake Regional Hospital (SRH) and diagnosed with an un-displaced fracture of the nasal bone.

The Team

Date and time team dispatched: 2026/01/01 at 12:36 p.m.

Date and time SIU arrived on scene: 2026/01/01 at 3:30 p.m.

Number of SIU Investigators assigned: 3

Number of SIU Forensic Investigators assigned: 0

Affected Person (aka “Complainant”):

38-year-old female; interviewed; medical records obtained and reviewed

The Complainant was interviewed on January 1, 2026

Civilian Witnesses

CW #1 Interviewed

CW #2 Interviewed

The civilian witnesses were interviewed on January 2, 2026.

Subject Official

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

Witness Officials

WO #1 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

WO #2 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

WO #3 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

WO #4 Interviewed; notes received and reviewed

The witness officials were interviewed between January 8, 2026, and January 9, 2026.

The Scene

The events in question transpired in and around the reception area of a housing support centrein Newmarket.

Video/Audio/Photographic Evidence[2]

Video Footage from the Housing Support Centre

On January 1, 2026, starting at about 8:39 a.m., the Complainant stood at the front desk of a housing support centre in Newmarket. She subsequently sat on a sofa as the SO entered the area. The SO approached the Complainant and they talked. The Complainant was calm. An unknown woman wearing a yellow hoodie stood at the desk talking on a land phone.

Starting at about 8:40 a.m., the SO took hold of the Complainant’s left arm. She leaned back into the sofa and pressed her left knee into his groin area while attempting to pull away from his grasp. The SO and Complainant went to ground from the sofa where they wrestled each other; the officer attempting to control her arms behind the back, and the Complainant pulling her arms away and kicking out with her feet.

Starting at about 8:41 a.m., the SO placed a knee on the Complainant’s torso as he struggled to control her arms. The SO pulled the Complainant onto her right side and attempted to place her hands behind the back. The SO then placed his left hand on the left side of the Complainant’s head and pinned it to the ground. The left front side of the Complainant’s face contacted the ground, and she continued to resist. A black object appeared to fall onto the ground during the struggle. The SO briefly placed his knee on the side of the Complainant’s face before pulling on the side of her neck and repeatedly attempting to bring her right arm behind the back while she struggled against his efforts.

Starting at about 8:42 a.m., two police officers [WO #4 and WO #1] arrived to assist the SO. The Complainant’s hands were handcuffed behind the back while she remained face down on the ground. An officer placed a pillow from the sofa under the Complainant’s head.

Starting at about 8:50 a.m., the Complainant was stood up and sat on the sofa.

YRP Communications Recordings

On January 1, 2026, starting at about 8:37 a.m., an employee of the housing support centre in Newmarket called 911 to have police officers attend to remove a female [the Complainant] as she was being disrespectful to staff and had been screaming for about 20 minutes. Staff members had attempted to calm the situation to no avail. The Complainant was known to the housing support centre staff. She was not being physically violent, no weapons were observed, and it was unknown if she had consumed any drugs. The Complainant was sitting by herself in the drop-in area at the entrance on the first floor.

Starting at about 8:39 a.m., a YRP dispatcher conducted a Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) query on the Complainant and discovered an entry from a previous YRP interaction, in which the Complainant had been charged with criminal offences related to an incident that occurred at the housing support centre. The Complainant was subsequently released on an undertaking with conditions, including one prohibiting her return to the housing support centre.

Starting at about 8:41 a.m., a radio transmission was broadcast for an officer to attend the housing support centre for an unwanted person - the Complainant. A CPIC query also revealed that the Complainant was not to attend the housing support centre.

A subsequent request was made for a female officer to attend to conduct a search of the Complainant.

EMS were requested to attend the scene to assess an injury to a piercing on the Complainant’s forehead that was bleeding.

Starting at about 9:07 a.m., EMS attended and transported the Complainant to SRH at 9:16 a.m.

Materials Obtained from Police Service

Upon request, the SIU received the following materials from YRP between January 5, 2026, and January 8, 2026:

• Video footage from housing support centre.
• The Complainant’s interaction history with YRP
• YRP policy - Use of Force
• Communications recordings
• Computer-aided Dispatch (CAD) Report
• Notes – WO #1, WO #2, WO #3 and WO #4
• Occurrence and Arrest Reports
• CPIC record – the Complainant
• Photographs of the SO’s injury

Materials Obtained from Other Sources

The SIU obtained the Complainant’s medical records from SRH on January 28, 2026.

The evidence collected by the SIU, including interviews with the Complainant and other witnesses, 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 morning of January 1, 2026, staff at a housing support centre in Newmarket contacted police to have a woman – the Complainant – removed from the facility. The Complainant was causing a disturbance and had behaved rudely to staff. She was subject to an order prohibiting her attendance at the centre.

The SO arrived on scene and approached the Complainant. She was seated on a sofa in the reception area. The officer stood a distance from her and explained that she needed to leave. The Complainant refused to leave. After a period of further conversation, the SO approached the Complainant and took hold of her left arm.

The Complainant moved down the sofa away from the officer. She flailed her legs at him and fought against his efforts to take her into custody. The struggle moved to the floor where the SO attempted to wrestle control of her arms behind the back. The Complainant resisted strenuously for a period of a minute-and-a-half, even as the officer tried to keep her pinned to the floor with his knees and hands. It was only with the arrival of two additional officers that the Complainant was handcuffed with her hands behind the back.

Following her arrest, the Complainant was transported to hospital and diagnosed with a broken nose.

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 in the course of her arrest by a YRP officer on January 1, 2026. 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 arrest and 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.

The Complainant had refused to leave the shelter and was there in contravention of a term of her release from an earlier incident at the facility that had resulted in charges. In the circumstances, I am satisfied that she was subject to arrest for trespass and breach of that condition.

The SO used no more force than was necessary in his efforts to effect the Complainant’s arrest. The Complainant proved a formidable physical challenge to the officer. She had managed to prevent the officer handcuffing her arms by her sheer strength and stamina. The SO attempted to overcome the Complainant’s resistance by wrestling her under control, but was unable to do so on his own. He never struck her and the takedown that occurred was more in the nature of the parties rolling off the sofa to the floor. On this record, I am satisfied that the SO comported himself reasonably in his dealings with the Complainant.

In the result, while I accept that the Complainant broke her nose in the altercation with the officer that marked her arrest, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that her injury was the result of unlawful conduct on the part of the SO. As such, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case. The file is closed.

Date: April 29, 2026

Electronically approved by

Joseph Martino

Director

Special Investigations Unit