News Release
No Charges Against Toronto Officer After Man Suffers Serious Self-Inflicted Injuries
Case Number: 22-TCI-013
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a Toronto Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with serious self-inflicted injuries suffered by a 34-year-old man in January. As police officers were present at the time, the SIU was notified and initiated an investigation.
On January 18, 2022, officers were called to a facility in the area of Bloor Street and Bathurst Street in Toronto after receiving a report about a man acting oddly. The man stabbed himself and had access to other knives. An officer pepper sprayed the man and apprehended him under the Mental Health Act.
Director Martino found the force used by the officer involved was justified. As such, he found no reasonable grounds to believe that the subject official conducted himself unlawfully in his dealings with the man. 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