News Release
No Basis to Proceed with Charges in Relation to Arrest of Man in Ripley
Case Number: 20-PCI-004
On the night of January 6, 2020, in Ripley, a 21-year-old man assaulted an individual in the area of Ripley Street. The individual managed to get away. A short time later, the 21-year-old man assaulted another individual in the area. Civilians managed to pin the man on the ground while awaiting the arrival of Ontario Provincial Police officers. Following his arrest, the man was taken to the police station and lodged in cells. He was subsequently taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a fractured right hand. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, says the man’s hand injury appeared to have occurred prior to the officers arriving at the scene, and there is no evidence that any of the arresting officers acted other than professionally throughout their dealings with the man. Accordingly, there is no basis to proceed with criminal charges against any police officer in this case and the file is closed.
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