News Release
No Charges to Issue in Connection with Woman’s Detention and Injury in Hamilton
Case Number: 20-OCI-018
At approximately 10:15 p.m. on July 9, 2019, an occupant of a Hamilton residence contacted 911 reporting that she had been assaulted by another woman. Officers were dispatched to the area and located the person of interest. The 32-year-old woman was apprehended and subsequently taken to hospital where she was diagnosed with a fractured right hand. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there is no trustworthy evidence that any of the officers did anything untoward in their dealings with the woman. Accordingly, there is no basis for proceeding with charges 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