News Release
Man’s Serious Injury Sustained After Falling from Hospital Bed; SIU Terminates Investigation in St. Marys
Case Number: 18-PCI-088
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Tony Loparco, has terminated an investigation into the serious injury sustained by a 34-year-old man in St. Marys in March of 2018.
At approximately 4 p.m. on March 24, 2018, Ontario Provincial Police officers with the Perth County detachment were dispatched to the man’s residence to do a well-being check. Due to the man’s condition, he was transported to St. Marys Memorial Hospital and admitted to a room. While police were speaking with a nurse, the man – whose hands were handcuffed behind his back – began shuffling in the hospital bed. Suddenly, he fell off the bed and landed on a part of a hospital machine. The man complained of pain in his chest, and X-rays revealed he had a punctured right lung.
Director Loparco said, “The evidence is clear that the man’s injury was due to his own actions and did not involve any conduct or neglect on the part of the police. As such, I have terminated the investigation into this incident.”
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