News Release

The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that any Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the serious injury suffered by a 41-year-old man in May in St. Catharines.

On May 18, 2022, a NRPS officer observed the man riding a motorcycle without a licence plate. The motorcyclist, having come to a stop at a red light, accelerated away from the officer as the officer approached to speak with him. Later that day, the officer went to the home that the man was staying at. The officer saw the man in the backyard and indicated he wished to speak to him about his motorcycle.  The man refused to speak with the officer and he entered the home. The residence was monitored while a Feeney warrant was being obtained. Once the warrant was issued, members of the Street Crime Unit convened at the home to effect the man’s arrest. The officers entered the home and within minutes they located the man hiding in the attic. He was lying in a prone position with his arms tucked underneath his chest. When he did not release his arms as directed, he was met with a degree of force. The man was arrested and transported to the police station. The man was later taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a ‘healing left clavicular fracture’.       

As there were no reasonable grounds to believe that any of the officers comported themselves other than lawfully in the course of the tussle that marked the man’s arrest, Director Martino determined 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.