News Release
No Charges to Issue in Relation to Ottawa Arrest
Case Number: 19-OCI-053
At approximately 1 a.m. on March 10, 2019, two Ottawa Police Service (OPS) officers were on patrol near Dalhousie Street in their marked cruiser when they were flagged by an individual pointing at a man and indicating that he had assaulted several people. After a foot chase, the officers eventually caught up with the man and took him to the ground. A struggled ensued on the ground, and the officers were able to handcuff the man after deploying a conducted energy weapon. The Interim Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges against an OPS officer in relation to the serious injuries sustained by the man.
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