News Release
Conduct of Windsor Officer in Man’s Arrest was Lawful; No Charges to Issue
Case Number: 22-OCI-058
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a Windsor Police Service (WPS) officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the serious injuries suffered by a 43-year-old man in February in the course of his arrest.
In the afternoon of February 26, 2022, a WPS officer made his way to a plaza parking lot on Dougall Avenue after hearing radio dispatches in relation to a man’s actions – the man had yelled at customers at a Walmart and had pointed a pocket blow torch in the direction of a security officer, and the same man entered a nearby Baskin-Robbins with what appeared to be a gun in his hands. The officer located the man and attempted to arrest him. However, the man fled and the officer gave chase on foot. The officer caught up to the man and a struggle ensued. The officer repeatedly punched the man in the head area, including with the use of his conducted energy weapon (CEW), and attempted to stun him with the CEW. With the help of another officer arriving at the scene, the man was handcuffed. He was taken to hospital and diagnosed with a broken nose and orbital hematoma.
While accepting that the man’s broken nose was the result of the force used by the officer, Director Martino concluded there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the injury was attributable to unlawful conduct on the part of the officer. As there was no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case, the file has been closed.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision): https://siu.on.ca/en/directors_report_details.php?drid=2018
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