News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Toronto Officer After Man Suffers Broken Nose During Arrest
Case Number: 22-TCI-017
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 the broken nose suffered by a 53-year-old man during his arrest in January.
On January 20, 2022, the officer attempted to arrest the man for a report that the man stole goods from Loblaws on Carlton Street and threatened a security guard. During the arrest, the man resisted and struck out at the officer with his right hand. The officer punched the man several times. Following a struggle, the officer handcuffed the man.
Director Martino accepted that the man’s serious injury resulted from the struggle with the officer; however, there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the subject official comported himself unlawfully throughout the engagement. The file has been closed.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision): https://www.siu.on.ca/en/directors_reports.php.
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