News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Niagara Officers After Man Suffers Concussion in Thorold
Case Number: 21-OCI-428
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that two Niagara Regional Police Service officers committed a criminal offence in connection with a concussion suffered by a 55-year-old man in 2020. The SIU launched an investigation upon being notified of the incident in December 2021.
In the early morning hours of April 17, 2020, officers went to a residence in Thorold following a call about the man making threats and harassing a woman. Officers entered the man’s bedroom where they woke him. It is alleged that before the officers left, the man was assaulted by one or both officers while he was in bed. The man went to hospital on April 21, 2020, where he was diagnosed with a concussion.
Director Martino found that the evidence was insufficiently reliable to give rise to criminal charges in this case. 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