News Release
Officers Acted with Tact and Professionalism; No Basis to Proceed with Charges in Relation to Woman’s Injury in Niagara Falls
Case Number: 20-OCI-143
On June 18, 2020, paramedics were dispatched to a complex of townhomes at an address in Niagara Falls as a woman had fallen in the parking lot and had hit her head. When paramedics located the 39-year-old woman on the porch of one of the homes, she was intoxicated, refused to be examined by the paramedics and she exhibited strange and irrational behaviour. Officers with the Niagara Regional Police Service were called for assistance. Many attempts were made to convince the woman to go with the paramedics, but this was to no avail. Suddenly, the woman ran from the porch and then fell, fracturing her left knee. She was taken to hospital. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined that the involved officers acted lawfully throughout their dealings with the woman and thus there is no basis to proceed with criminal charges.
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