News Release
SIU Discontinues Investigation into Durham Regional Police Officers’ Conduct; Broken Rib Suffered by Man
Case Number: 21-OCI-077
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has terminated an investigation into a broken rib suffered by a man while in custody in March.
On March 12, 2021, Durham Regional Police Service officers engaged in a pursuit of a man driving an SUV, based on reports of a possible abduction of a woman in Pickering. The pursuit ended in the area of Sheppard Avenue East and Twyn Rivers Drive in Toronto, after police were able to box-in the man’s SUV. The man was arrested and taken to hospital.
Based on preliminary inquiries, Director Martino concluded that evidence strongly suggested the left-sided rib fracture occurred prior to police involvement. In the circumstances, it did not appear that the man suffered a serious injury in the interaction with police, leaving the SIU without jurisdiction to continue the investigation. The file has been closed.
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