News Release
No Basis to Charge Officer in Relation to Man’s Arrest in Barrie
Case Number: 20-OCI-351
On December 6, 2020, Barrie Police Service officers attended a hotel after a woman reported she had been assaulted by a man in a room. Officers arrested a 35-year-old man and transported him to the police station. As the man was being booked, he went into acute medical distress and officers administered first aid. Paramedics arrived, took over care of the man and transported him to hospital. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the arresting officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the man’s medical condition.
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