News Release

The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a Toronto Police Service (TPS) officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the arrest of a 45-year-old man in May.

On the evening of May 15, 2022, the man called police to request a wellness check on his infant son and the baby’s mother, who he hadn’t heard from in days. In the course of that call, the man alluded to the fact that there might be an outstanding warrant for his arrest, but he had no interest in being taken into custody by responding police officers. Officers were dispatched to the man’s apartment. Through the locked door, they attempted to have the man surrender into custody. The man refused to do so. After hours of attempting to negotiate the man’s apprehension, police obtained a Feeney warrant and the officers decided to force entry into the apartment. With the use of a ram, an officer struck the apartment door multiple times. He was unable to breech the door open, but was able to punch a hole near the door handle. Through the hole, the man continued to make clear his intentions of staying put. The Emergency Task Force arrived and took the man into custody without incident. The man was later taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with fractures of two right-sided ribs.  

Director Martino determined the man’s injuries were not attributable to any unlawful conduct on the part of the officer. The man had chosen to brace himself against the door in an effort to prevent its breech by the ram, fracturing his ribs in the process. As 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.