News Release
Man Broke Finger After Hitting Hand on Tree Branch; SIU Terminates Barrie Investigation
Case Number: 20-OCI-231
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has terminated an investigation into the serious injury sustained by a 36-year-old man in Barrie in September.
On the afternoon of September 20, 2020, Barrie Police Service officers were dispatched to an address on Chaucer Crescent to arrest a man who had breached the terms of a recognizance. When police arrived, the man fled. He scaled a fence and as he was going down, his right hand struck a tree branch, resulting in the ring finger of that hand being broken.
Director Martino said, “Based on the SIU’s preliminary inquiries, it is apparent that the man is alone responsible for his injury. Aside from being the impetus for the man’s flight, there is no suggestion of any conceivable criminality by the officers in relation to his self-inflicted injury. Accordingly, there being patently nothing further to investigate as far as the SIU’s jurisdiction is concerned, the investigation is hereby discontinued and the file is closed.”
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