News Release
No Charges to Issue in Relation to Women’s Arrest in Toronto
Case Number: 20-TCI-226
On September 30, 2020, Toronto Police Service officers responded to an apartment building to investigate a report of a domestic disturbance. When a 28-year-old woman attempted to leave without officers having had a chance to speak with her, an officer arrested her.
Two days later, the woman terminated her pregnancy. She contended that the force used against her in the course of the arrest had rendered her fetus unviable. 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 woman’s arrest and any harm done to her fetus.
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