News Release
No Charges Against Niagara Officers After Man Seriously Injured
Case Number: 22-OCI-054
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that two Niagara Regional Police Service officers committed a criminal offence in connection with serious injuries suffered by a 29-year-old man last February.
On February 20, 2022, officers were called to an apartment for a report of an assault in progress. Officers attempted to arrest the man for assaulting his wife. During the arrest, one of the officers discharged a Conducted Energy Weapon at the man. He was handcuffed. Paramedics took the Complainant to hospital. He was diagnosed with a dislocated left elbow and a fracture of the same elbow.
Director Martino said while it remained unclear when the man’s elbow injuries were incurred, there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the subject officials comported themselves other than lawfully throughout their engagement with the man. Accordingly, there was no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision): https://siu.on.ca/en/directors_report_details.php?drid=2009
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