News Release
SIU Closes Investigation into York Custody Injury
Case Number: 10-OCI-037
The SIU assigned two investigators and one forensic investigator to probe the circumstances of this incident. The investigation found that the following events took place on March 19:
* On that day, one of the subject officers was on duty in a marked cruiser. He signalled Mr. Orbst to pull over after querying the car's description and licence plate number, and receiving conflicting information. The validation tag had expired, and the vehicle was registered as black when it was in fact light blue.
* Mr. Orbst produced his driver's licence, but did not produce a registration permit or proof of insurance.
* The officer then requested the attendance of the second subject officer. The two officers approached the vehicle for the purpose of investigating whether or not the car was stolen.
Director Scott said, "From this point, there is a significant diversion between the position of Mr. Orbst and that of the two subject officers. There are no other witnesses or recordings to the material part of the interaction between them. However, there is a consensus that Mr. Orbst was briefly arrested for attempting to obstruct the course of justice. I am satisfied that during the arrest he sustained a nondisplaced fracture of the left radial head of his left arm.
"In my view, the subject officers had the lawful authority to stop the vehicle and engage in an investigation of whether or not the car was stolen. Further, they had the authority to briefly detain and/or arrest Mr. Orbst because he was making it difficult for them to investigate whether indeed the car was stolen. With respect to the issue of whether the force was excessive, I cannot sufficiently ascertain the facts to conclude one way or the other. All in all, I cannot determine what probably happened and therefore cannot conclude that the subject officers probably used excessive force in these circumstances."
If you or someone you know has been negatively affected by an incident under SIU investigation and would like support, the Affected Persons Program is here to help. You can reach us at 1-877-641-1897. Support is free, confidential, and available 24/7, every day of the year.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (municipal, regional and provincial police officers, police officers with the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, 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