News Release
No Basis to Charge Officer in Relation to Incident at Gananoque Police Service Headquarters
Case Number: 20-OCI-050
On the night of March 5, 2020, a 36-year-old man was arrested without incident by a Gananoque Police Service officer for the theft of a motor vehicle. The man was taken to the police station and lodged in a cell. Several hours later, the man was observed on a video monitor to be wrapping his belt around his neck as a ligature. An officer arrived at the cell, opened the door, and removed the man’s belt. The man then pushed past the officer. He had made it as far as the booking area when he was pushed from behind by the officer into a metal table. Following a struggle between the man and two officers, the man was returned to his cell. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to believe that an officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the man’s arrest and the two broken ribs he sustained.
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