News Release

No Reasonable Grounds to Believe Toronto Officer Committed Criminal Offence in Connection with Man’s Injuries

Case Number: 20-TCI-265   

Mississauga, ON (27 April, 2021) ---
In the afternoon of October 12, 2020, Toronto Police Service officers attended an address where a 31-year-old man who was wanted on several arrest warrants was believed to be. Officers went to the third-floor and exited through a door onto a rooftop patio. Within seconds of police seeing the man hiding behind a patio railing, the man jumped from the roof to the ground below, fracturing his back in several places. Notwithstanding his injuries, the man took flight from the police on foot.  He was arrested a short time later. 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 injuries.

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

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