News Release
No Charges Against Niagara Officer After Woman Suffers Serious Injury in St. Catharines
Case Number: 22-OCI-044
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a Niagara Regional Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with a broken right elbow suffered by a 37-year-old woman in the course of her arrest in St. Catharines in February.
On February 15, 2022, officers were called after a woman refused to leave a detoxification centre. She was arrested for trespassing and escorted outside where she was released. She re-entered the property. An officer tripped the woman, and she suffered a fractured elbow.
Director Martino found no reasonable grounds to believe that the subject official comported himself other than lawfully in his dealings with the woman, leaving no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case.
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