News Release

News Release

-UPDATE- Man Identified in Brantford Incident

Case Number: 09-OCD-010   

TORONTO (22 January, 2009) --- Investigators have positively identified the man whose body was recovered after he went through the ice of the Grand River in Brantford on Tuesday.

The body of Mr. Benjamin Wood, 32-years-old of Oakville, Ontario was recovered at noon on Tuesday January 20, 2009. Mr. Wood had been interacting with officers of the Brantford Police Service (BPS) in the early morning hours when he ventured out onto the ice surface of the Grand River near the Brantford Casino. A short time after doing so he was seen by the BPS officers going through the ice.

A post mortem was conducted on Mr. Woods yesterday in Hamilton.

The SIU has designated one officer as a subject officer and six officers as witness officers.

The SIU is continuing its investigation, and investigators are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed this incident to contact the Unit at 416-622-1965 or 1-800-787-8529 extension #1965.

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