News Release
No Charges Against York Police Officer After Man Seriously Injured During Arrest in Markham
Case Number: 21-OCI-320
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a York Regional Police officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the serious injuries suffered by a 55-year-old man in the course of his arrest last September in Markham.
On September 25, 2021, officers attempted to arrest the man for impaired driving. The man resisted and officers used force to take him into custody.
Director Martino accepted that the man’s rib fractures resulted from the physical altercation with officers; however, he said there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the officers involved comported themselves other than lawfully. 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
Lisez ce communiqué en français.
Kristy Denette, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES