News Release
No Charges Against OPP Officer in 2021 Arrest of Man in Trenton
Case Number: 22-PCI-034
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer committed a criminal offence in connection with fractured ribs suffered by a 60-year-old man in the course of his arrest in Trenton last year. The SIU launched an investigation after the OPP reported on February 7, 2022, that a man they arrested on September 29, 2021, had been seriously injured by officers.
On September 29, 2021, OPP officers arrested the man at Trenton Memorial Hospital for sexual assault. The man resisted arrest and officers took him down to the floor where further force was used to subdue and handcuff the man.
Director Martino acknowledged that the man’s rib fractures were the result of the force used by the involved officer; however, he found no reasonable grounds to believe that they were attributable to unlawful conduct by the officer. 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.
Kristy Denette, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES