News Release
No Charges Against Barrie Police Officers After Man Seriously Injured During Arrest
Case Number: 22-OCI-089
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that two Barrie Police Service officers committed a criminal offence in connection with a serious injury suffered by a 35-year-old man during his apprehension in March.
On March 26, 2022, officers attempted to apprehend the man under the Mental Health Act at his home in Barrie. The man had consumed cocaine, and was suffering from paranoia. The officers forced the man out of his house, on to the porch and then onto the front lawn where they all fell to the ground. The man was eventually handcuffed. After his arrest, the man was taken to the cruiser where he resisted the officers’ attempt to put him in the vehicle. Officers held the man on the ground while additional officers were dispatched. The additional officers arrived and he was lifted and taken to another police cruiser. The man resisted and one or more of the officers responded with several strikes to his torso. The man was put in the cruiser and taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a chipped and dislocated left elbow.
Director Martino accepted that the man’s serious injury resulted from the force used by one or both officers involved; however, there was insufficient evidence to reasonably conclude the force used by either subject official was unlawful. 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