News Release
No Charges Against OPP Officer After Woman’s Elbow Dislocated During Arrest in Walkerton
Case Number: 21-PCI-324
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that an Ontario Provincial Police officer committed a criminal offence in connection with a dislocated elbow suffered by a 55-year-old woman during her apprehension last February in Walkerton.
On February 21, 2021, officers responded to a call about a woman in distress. Police attempted to apprehend the woman under the Mental Health Act. One officer took hold of each of her arms, and she kicked out toward the officers. She was then brought to the floor in a prone position and officers wrestled control of her right arm behind her back and handcuffed it, followed by her left. Paramedics took the woman to hospital where she was diagnosed and treated for a dislocated right elbow.
Director Martino found that the officers were entitled to use a measure of force to subdue and control the woman, who was resisting arrest. While Director Martino accepted that the woman’s injury occurred in the process of these actions, he was not reasonably persuaded that the force used by the officers was disproportionate to the task at hand. Accordingly, 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=1786
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