News Release
Man’s Broken Nose Attributable to Lawful Conduct on Part of Officers; SIU Concludes Toronto Investigation
Case Number: 22-TCI-169
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that any Toronto Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the injury suffered by a 35-year-old man in July.
In the early morning hours of July 2, 2022, two officers were dispatched to the scene of a disturbance outside the Love Child Social on 69 Bathurst Street in Toronto. The 35-year-old man had just been thrown out of the premises by the club’s security guards and was being pinned with his back to the sidewalk when the officers arrived. As the officers attempted to handcuff the man, a struggle ensued. The man had thrown his legs around the upper body of one officer, after which he was subjected to a series of punches to the face by each officer, and several punches to the ribs. The man’s leg hold was released and the officers proceeded to handcuff him behind the back. The man was transported to hospital by ambulance where he was diagnosed with a broken nose.
While accepting that the man’s broken nose might well have been inflicted by the officers’ punches, Director Martino was unable to reasonably conclude the injury was attributable to unlawful conduct on the part of either officer. As such, there was no basis to proceed 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.
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