News Release
No Charges Against Brantford Officers in Relation to Man’s Self-Inflicted Death
Case Number: 22-OCD-056
Other News Releases Related to Case 22-OCD-056
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe any Brantford Police Service (BPS) officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the death of a 26-year-old man in February.
At about 12:10 a.m. of February 23, 2022, two BPS officers observed a Honda Civic that was connected to a missing person investigation then underway. A further check of the vehicle – occupied by a man and his girlfriend – revealed that it had been reported stolen. The driver led the police on a pursuit across city streets and onto the Wayne Gretzky Parkway before entering Highway 403. After eventually exiting the highway, the man and his girlfriend exited the vehicle and fled into a field where they hid underneath pine trees. Several officers arrived in the area in separate vehicles and exited their cruisers in pursuit of the two individuals. While searching for them, the police officers heard what sounded like a gunshot. They located the man lying under a tree with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Director Martino concluded there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the man’s death was attributable to a want of care on the part of the officers. Accordingly, there was no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case, and 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.
Kristy Denette, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES