News Release
No Charges Against Cornwall Police Officer after Man Suffers Broken Jaw During Arrest
Case Number: 21-OCI-207
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a Cornwall Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with a 23-year-old man seriously injured in the course of his arrest last July.
On July 4, 2021, officers responded to a residence on Bedford Street in connection with a domestic disturbance call. When police arrived, the man approached officers despite being told several times to stop. One of the officers discharged his CEW (CEW) at the man. As a result, the man became immobilized and fell face-first on the pavement. Officers then arrested him before calling an ambulance.
The man was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with fractures of the jaw and broken teeth.
While Director Martino accepted that the man’s serious injuries were incurred when he fell forward having been immobilized by the CEW discharge, he found no reasonable grounds to believe those injuries were the result of unlawful force by the subject official. Accordingly, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case, and the file has been closed.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision): https://siu.on.ca/en/directors_report_details.php?drid=1626
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