News Release
No Basis to Proceed with Charges in Relation to Teenager’s Arrest in Thunder Bay
Case Number: 21-OCI-028
On the night of January 23, 2021, two Thunder Bay Police Service officers arrived at an address Academy Drive following 911 calls from tenants of the building that someone was kicking at the front entrance door attempting to get in. The officers confronted a 16-year-old male by the entrance and noticed that the front door glass was broken. Soon after the youth admitted to causing the damage, he fled and an officer gave chase. When the officer grabbed onto the youth, both slipped and fell. The youth was subsequently taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a serious injury. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the youth’s arrest and injury.
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