News Release
Officer was Entitled to use CEW; No Charges to Issue in Relation to Lindsay Arrest
Case Number: 22-OCI-070
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a City of Kawartha Lakes Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the arrest of a 57-year-old man in March.
In the evening of March 7, 2022, two officers were dispatched to a residence in Lindsay to investigate a call from a woman regarding a domestic disturbance. The officers were let into the residence by the husband, and one of the officers proceeded to go to the second floor to speak with the wife. The man was angered by the fact the officer had not removed his boots prior to going to the second floor. He tried to go up the stairs, presumably to confront the officer about the situation, but was prevented by the other officer. The man pushed the officer out of his way and was told he was under arrest for assault. The man refused to turn around as directed by the officer, after which the officer fired his conducted energy weapon (CEW). As a result, the man’s body seized and he fell. The man is reported to have fractured his left clavicle bone on impact with the floor.
While it was regrettable that the man apparently suffered a broken clavicle when he fell having been struck by the CEW probes, there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer comported himself unlawfully in his resort to the weapon. Accordingly, 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://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.
Monica Hudon, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES