News Release
Man’s Fractured Neck a Result of Vehicle Collision; SIU Terminates Investigation into London Arrest
Case Number: 19-OCI-154
The Interim Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has terminated an investigation into the serious injury sustained by a 37-year-old man last month in London.
In the afternoon of June 27, 2019, the man was involved in a motor vehicle collision at the intersection of Pack and Bostwick Roads in London. He walked away from the collision scene and was soon arrested by a London Police Service officer for impaired operation of a vehicle. When the man did not feel well at the police station, he was transported to hospital where he was diagnosed with a fractured vertebrae in his neck.
Interim Director Martino said, “As it is apparent based on the SIU’s preliminary inquiries that the man’s fractured neck was the result of the motor vehicle collision, and not the arrest or anything that occurred during his period in custody, there is patently nothing to investigate as far the potential criminal liability of any police officer is concerned. Accordingly, the investigation is hereby discontinued and the file closed.”
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