News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Man’s Death in North York
Case Number: 22-TCD-176
Other News Releases Related to Case 22-TCD-176
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 death of a 26-year-old man in July.
On the evening of July 9, 2022, officers were called to a residence near Finch Avenue East and Leslie Street for a distressed man with a knife. Two of the man’s brothers had restrained him until officers arrived. Officers handcuffed the man and realized he was in medical distress. Officers provided medical care until paramedics arrived. Paramedics took the man to hospital where he was pronounced deceased shortly after midnight on July 10, 2022. An autopsy has not found a cause of death at this time.
Director Martino found that in the in the short time that the officers dealt with the man, he was satisfied that they comported themselves with due care and regard for his health and wellbeing. The officers acted expeditiously as soon as they noticed the man was in medical crisis, contacting EMS and administering CPR. In the result, while the cause of the man’s death remains unknown at this time, there were no reasonable grounds to believe it was attributable to any unlawful conduct on the part of the subject official. As such, there were no grounds to proceed with criminal charges. 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