News Release
No Charges Against OPP Officer After Woman Seriously Injured During Arrest on Chippewa of the Thames First Nation
Case Number: 22-PCI-083
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer on the Chippewa of the Thames First Nation committed a criminal offence in connection with a fractured left arm suffered by a 42-year-old woman in the course of her arrest in March.
On March 18, 2022, officers from the Middlesex Detachment of the OPP were on the lookout for the woman, wanted on several warrants, when they came across a vehicle in the driveway of a residence. They suspected one of the people inside the vehicle was the woman they were looking for. The driver of the vehicle attempted to drive away when the vehicle became stuck in mud. The subject official told the woman to exit the vehicle and she attempted to flee on foot. The officer chased the woman and there was a struggle. The pair fell. The officer gained control of the woman and another officer arrived to assist in handcuffing the woman. An ambulance was called after the woman complained that her left arm was broken. She was taken to hospital where she was diagnosed with the serious injury.
Director Martino found the evidence gave rise to two versions of events on how the woman became injured; however, neither gave rise to criminal charges against the subject official. 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