News Release
No Charges Against Hamilton Police Officer After Man Suffers Broken Cheekbone During Arrest in 2019
Case Number: 21-OCI-352
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a Hamilton Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with a broken cheekbone suffered by a 38-year-old man in the course of his arrest in 2019.
The man reported the incident to the SIU on October 19, 2021, and the SIU launched an investigation.
On July 2, 2019, officers attempted to arrest the man after he fought with his brother and father, and then pushed one of the officers. A struggle ensued, and one of the officers struck the man in the face and delivered knee strikes.
Director Martino accepted that the man’s injury (and, possibly, a left elbow chip) resulted from the physical altercation; however, there was insufficient evidence to reasonably conclude the force used by the subject official was unlawful. 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