News Release
No Charges Against Toronto Police Officer After Man Seriously Injured Following Home Invasion in North York
Case Number: 21-TCI-318
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a Toronto Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with serious injuries suffered by a 26-year-old man in the course of his arrest in North York last September.
In the morning of September 23, 2021, officers responded to a 911 call about a violent home invasion in progress, involving a man with a gun, on Bevdale Road. Before police arrived, the man jumped from a window and fled. A police dog later located the man hiding in the backyard of a nearby residence. The dog bit the man’s lower right torso and a struggle ensued. Three officers struck the man and one of the officers discharged a Conducted Energy Weapon. The man was handcuffed and taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a right rib fracture and collapsed right lung.
Director Martino concluded that the force used by the officers was legally justified as the man was resisting arrest and the officers had reason to believe he was armed and dangerous. While it was unclear whether the man’s injuries were the result of the force used by the police or his fall from a second-floor window, Director Martino said he was satisfied they were not reasonably attributable to any unlawful conduct by the officers involved. 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=1779
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