News Release
No Charges Against Peel Regional Police Officers After Death of Man in Brampton
Case Number: 21-OCD-204
Other News Releases Related to Case 21-OCD-204
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that Peel Regional Police officers committed a criminal offence in connection with a 22-year-old man’s death in Brampton last July.
In the afternoon of July 1, 2021, officers responded to a 911 call for a report of shots fired at an apartment building on Charolais Boulevard. After officers forced their way into the building, the man was located acting erratically before lying down in the hallway. He then began to froth at the mouth and convulse. The officers handcuffed the man, and then called for an ambulance. The man was taken to hospital where he died the next day.
Director Martino said he was satisfied that the officers had a lawful basis to take the man into custody until they could determine his role, if any, in the incident under investigation. He also said he was satisfied that the officers acted within the limits of care prescribed by the criminal law, in that after they handcuffed the man, they quickly realized he was in medical distress and placed him in a recovery position while multiple calls were made for an ambulance. Director Martino said, in hindsight, it may have been better for the officers to have administered naloxone in light of information that the man may have been suffering from a drug overdose, but their failure to do so in the circumstances did not transgress the limits of care prescribed by the criminal law.
The man’s cause of death remains undetermined at this time, pending the results of toxicological analysis.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision): https://siu.on.ca/en/directors_report_details.php?drid=1622
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
Lisez ce communiqué en français.
Kristy Denette, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES