News Release
SIU Discontinues Woodstock Investigation
Case Number: 21-OCI-067
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has terminated an investigation into the serious injury sustained by a 21-year-old man last month in Woodstock.
In the early morning of February 28, 2021, Woodstock Police Service officers arrested the man for public intoxication outside a residence. Soon after being placed in a cruiser, the man started to bang his head on the partition, resulting in cuts to his face. The man was taken to hospital for treatment, diagnosed with a fractured left finger and released into the custody of the police.
Director Martino said, “Based on the SIU’s preliminary inquiries, I am satisfied at this time that there is patently nothing to investigate as far as the potential criminal liability of any police officer is concerned in connection with the man’s injury. Whether the fractured finger was sustained before the arrival of police, or in the cruiser as he struck the interior of the vehicle, the man is alone responsible for his injury. 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