News Release
No Criminal Wrongdoing Found in Relation to Arrest of Man in Oshawa
Case Number: 18-OCI-373
In the early morning hours of December 23, 2018, a Durham Regional Police Service officer was on patrol in his cruiser taking part in the service’s RIDE program. After observing a 23-year-old man leave a bar and enter a vehicle, the officer followed the vehicle. When the vehicle came to a stop, the man was asked to take a roadside breath test. After learning that the test registered an “ALERT”, the man fled on foot into a forested area. Shortly thereafter, officers located the man and arrested him. Later that day, the man was taken to hospital and diagnosed with a fractured finger. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined that whether the man’s injury occurred while he and the officer were physically engaged, or he was alone running to get away, the officer’s conduct was legally justified throughout and there are therefore no grounds for proceeding with charges in this case.
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