News Release
SIU Terminates North York Investigation After Determining Man’s Injuries a Result of Jump from Fourth-Floor Apartment Balcony
Case Number: 20-TCI-151
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has terminated an investigation into an incident that occurred in June in North York.
In the afternoon of June 25, 2020, Toronto Police Service officers attended a 21-year-old man’s fourth-floor apartment in the area of Keele Street and Catford Road to execute a search warrant. As officers attempted to gain entry into the unit, the man made his way onto his balcony from which he jumped to a second-floor platform, and then to the ground. With the assistance of a police dog, the man was apprehended. He was then taken to hospital where he underwent surgery for “closed left intraarticular fractures to his distal fibia” and was treated with three sutures for dog bite wounds.
Director Martino said, “Based on the SIU’s preliminary inquiries, I am satisfied that there is patently nothing to further investigate as far as the potential criminal liability of any police officer is concerned in connection with the man’s fractures. As it is apparent that the man jumped of his own volition from his fourth-floor apartment in an effort to escape police apprehension, he alone is responsible for the fractures he sustained. Accordingly, 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