News Release
No Criminal Charges Warranted in Relation to Death of Man in Toronto
Case Number: 17-TCD-350
Other News Releases Related to Case 17-TCD-350
On the night of November 26, 2017, officers with the Toronto Police Service (TPS) responded to a Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) apartment building in the area of Sherbourne Street and Dundas Street East for a disturbance call. When officers arrived at the TCHC security office, a 57-year-old man was in the office – he was seated and had been handcuffed. The officers took over custody of the man and stood him up to perform a search. Following the search he was allowed to be seated again. Shortly after being seated, the man fell to the ground and went vital signs absent. Paramedics, who were already on scene, performed CPR on the man and transported him to hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11:15 p.m. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Tony Loparco, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges against any TPS officer in relation to the man’s death.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision): https://www.siu.on.ca/en/directors_reports.php.
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