News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Peel Police Officer, Man’s Serious Injury During Arrest in Mississauga
Case Number: 21-OCI-421
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a Peel Regional Police officer committed a criminal offence in connection with a broken nose suffered by a 32-year-old man during his arrest last December in Mississauga.
In the evening of December 17, 2021, an officer on patrol at the Cooksville GO Station parking lot on Hurontario Street spotted the man, among a group of people, in a suspected drug transaction. He drove up to the group in an unmarked police vehicle, and approached the group. The man fled and the officer chased after him, tackling him to the ground. The man pepper sprayed the officer. During a struggle, the officer punched the man in the head, and discharged his Conducted Energy Weapon twice. The man was handcuffed. He was taken to hospital via ambulance.
Director Martino accepted that the man’s injury resulted from the force used by the officer; however, there were no reasonable grounds to believe that it was due to unlawful conduct by the officer. 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.
Kristy Denette, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES