News Release
Man Fractured Foot After Falling from Cell Bench; SIU Terminates Peel Investigation
Case Number: 21-OCI-063
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has terminated an investigation into the serious injury sustained by a 38-year-old man last month while he was at Peel Regional Police’s 22 Division.
In the afternoon of February 26, 2021, security from the Centennial Mall contacted police to report that a man had passed out and was lying on the floor of the mall. Upon the arrival of officers, the man was arrested for having breached the terms of a recognizance.
At 22 Division, the man was lodged in a cell at 2:21 p.m. and he subsequently fell asleep on the cell bench. At 4:13 p.m., the man fell from the bench onto the concrete ground below, after which he was in visible pain and favoured his right foot. Paramedics were called to the station, and the man was transported to hospital where he was diagnosed with a foot fracture.
Director Martino said, “Based on the SIU’s preliminary inquiries to date, which included a review of the video recordings that captured the man’s time in police custody at 22 Division, I am satisfied 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. On the aforementioned-record, it is evident that the man’s foot fracture was the result of his fall from the cell bench and that the police did not contribute to the injury by any action or inaction on their part. In the result, 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