News Release
No Charges to Issue in Relation to Man’s Death in Chatham
Case Number: 19-OCD-183
Other News Releases Related to Case 19-OCD-183
In the evening of August 6, 2019, Chatham-Kent Police Service officers were dispatched to a residence in Chatham to assist paramedics transport a 35-year-old man to hospital. Once at the hospital, the officers assisted in keeping the man on the stretcher as a nurse attempted to place soft-restraints on his ankles. Within several of minutes of being in the trauma room, man lost vital signs. The medical attempted CPR and other life-saving measures. The man could not be resuscitated and was declared deceased. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to believe that an officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the man’s death.
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