News Release
No Charges Against OPP Officers After Man Suffers Serious Injuries in St. Clair Township
Case Number: 22-PCI-061
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that four Ontario Provincial Police officers committed a criminal offence in connection with fractures suffered by a 32-year-old man during his arrest in March.
On March 1, 2022, officers arrest the man after he attempted to flee in a stolen pickup truck in a rural area of St. Clair Township. The man resisted arrest and an officer punched the man two to three times while removing him from the truck. Once on the ground, the officers’ struck the man’s face, neck and legs while attempting to wrestle control of the man and handcuff him. The man was handcuffed and taken to the detachment. Later that day, while still in police custody, the man complained of facial pain and was taken to hospital. He was diagnosed with a broken nose and a possibly broken orbital bone.
While Director Martino accepted that the force used by one or more of the subject officials resulted in the man’s facial fracture or fractures, he was unable to reasonably conclude that any of the subject officials comported themselves unlawfully in their engagement with the man. 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.
Monica Hudon, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES