News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Grimsby Death
Case Number: 08-OCD-199
Other News Releases Related to Case 08-OCD-199
The SIU assigned five investigators and three forensic investigators to probe the circumstances of this case.
The SIU investigation determined that shortly before midnight on Saturday September 20, 2008, NRPS officers responded to Woodsview Avenue in Grimsby in regards to a citizen’s call about a man allegedly breaking into vehicles along the street. When officers arrived, they found a member of the public holding Mr. Dan Kindree. Mr. Kindree was taken into custody by police and handcuffed. An ambulance was summoned when it became apparent that Mr. Kindree was in medical distress. He was taken to West Lincoln Memorial Hospital by ambulance where he later died.
Director Scott said, "On September 20, 2008, eighteen year old Dan Kindree was observed behaving in an unusual manner and talking gibberish. A number of area residents saw him trying to get into cars that were parked in the area. A citizen grabbed Mr. Kindree and took him to the ground. Mr. Kindree was held on the ground for approximately five minutes before police arrived. During this time Mr. Kindree went limp. The subject officer arrived and handcuffed Mr. Kindree. A sergeant arrived and tried to speak to Mr. Kindree, but Mr. Kindree was unresponsive. Officers began CPR and an ambulance was called. An ambulance arrived and Mr. Kindree was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead."
Director Scott added, "While Mr. Kindree may have died in the custody of the police there is no information in this investigation supporting a causal relationship between the unfortunate death of this young man and the actions of the subject officer. The subject officer was clearly unaware of how serious Mr. Kindree’s condition was in that short period between his arrival and the time the ambulance took him to the hospital. In my view there are no reasonable grounds to believe that any of his acts or omissions were in law contributing factors to Mr. Kindree’s death."
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