News Release
No Charges Against Toronto Police Officer After Man Seriously Injured During Arrest
Case Number: 22-TCI-028
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 facial fracture suffered by a 41-year-old man during his arrest in January.
On January 30, 2022, Emergency Task Force officers executed a search warrant at the man’s residence on Gamble Avenue and arrested him for drug trafficking. The man resisted and officers took him to the ground. During the arrest, the subject official delivered an elbow strike to the man’s upper body. He was handcuffed and taken to the police station. The next day, the man was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a facial fracture to the right side of his face.
Director Martino found no reasonable grounds to believe that the subject official comported himself other than lawfully in his engagement with the man, leaving no basis for proceeding with criminal charges against the officer.
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