News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Man’s Broken Forearm During Arrest While Running From Officer in Hamilton
Case Number: 24-OCI-413
The Special Investigations Unit found no reasonable grounds to believe a Hamilton Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with a 31-year-old man diagnosed with a broken forearm. On September 28, 2024, an officer was on patrol in a marked cruiser when he approached a stopped vehicle in the area of West Avenue North that he believed recently fled from police. While it was not the vehicle in question, it too turned out to be stolen. The occupants of the vehicle fled and the officer ran after the driver, tackling him to the ground.
Director Joseph Martino acknowledged that although the man and the vehicle he was operating were not the subjects of the flight from police that had earlier been reported, the law does not expect perfection from police officers. Like the vehicle in question, the Nissan was missing a front licence plate, and contained a male driver and female passenger. It was also in the vicinity of the Mazda’s reported location a short time after it was last seen. Director Martino was also satisfied that the force used by the officer was lawful. He found some type of physical intervention was going to be necessary to arrest the man when he took off running from the officer.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision):
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (police officers as well as special constables with the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers with the Legislative Protective Service) that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person. All investigations are conducted by SIU investigators who are civilians. Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, the Director of the SIU must
- consider whether the official has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation
- depending on the evidence, cause a criminal charge to be laid against the official where grounds exist for doing so, or close the file without any charges being laid
- publicly report the results of its investigations
Lisez ce communiqué en français.
Kristy Denette, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES