News Release
No Charges Against Sarnia Police Officer in Woman’s Fractured Spine
Case Number: 21-OCI-242
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a Sarnia Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with a 29-year-old woman whose spine was fractured during her arrest last August.
On August 2, 2021, two officers attempted to arrest the woman for mischief. The officers pulled the woman free from a utility pole guide wire, and she was taken to the ground and handcuffed. When officers lifted the woman to her feet, the woman kicked out her legs and she was taken to the ground again. The subject official partially fell over her as she fell, and then used his right hand on her back to pin her to the ground. The woman was taken to hospital where she was diagnosed with a compression fracture of her spine.
Director Martino said the subject official was entitled to resort to a measure of force to overcome the woman’s resistance and place her under lawful arrest, and that the force used was legally justified in the circumstances. The file has been closed.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision):
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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SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES