News Release

News Release

SIU Investigates Falling Death in Scarborough

Case Number: 12-TCD-107   

Mississauga (19 April, 2012) --- Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is probing the circumstances surrounding the death of a 30-year-old woman in Scarborough last night.

The Toronto Police Service (TPS) contacted the SIU and reported the following:
• At approximately 8:30 p.m. on April 18, 2012, officers attended 10 Gordonridge Place after receiving a call from tenants of the apartment building;
• When officers went to the door of a seventh-floor apartment unit, a woman answered but refused to let the officers inside;
• Shortly thereafter, she fell from the balcony to the ground;
• She was taken to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

The woman was pronounced deceased near midnight.  A postmortem is expected to take place later today.

The SIU has assigned four investigators and two forensic investigators to probe the circumstances of this incident.  Anyone who may have witnessed this incident is asked to contact the lead investigator at 416-622-1886 or 1-800-787-8529 extension 1886.

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