News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation of OPP Officer in Arrest of Woman in Haileybury
Case Number: 21-PCI-411
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 reported collarbone fractures suffered by a 22-year-old woman during her arrest in Haileybury last December.
In the evening of December 6, 2021, officers from the Temiskaming Detachment were dispatched to a residence in the area of Rorke Avenue and Little Street in Haileybury after the woman was reported to have been damaging property and making threats. The woman fled arrest and an officer tackled her to the ground.
Director Martino accepted that the woman’s injuries resulted from being taken down by the officer; 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.
Monica Hudon, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES