News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Man’s Ruptured Spleen During Arrest in London
Case Number: 22-OCI-212
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe three London Police Service officers committed a criminal offence in connection with the ruptured spleen suffered by a 47-year-old man during his arrest.
On August 18, 2022, officers responded to a call about a stolen vehicle. The man had stolen it and rammed it into a cruiser while trying to flee. During his arrest, officers forced the man out of the car and onto the roadway. The man resisted his arrest while on the ground, refusing to give up his arms, and was punched twice in the left hip area by one officer and struck with knee strikes by another officer on his thighs and torso. Following his arrest, the man was taken to the station and then to hospital where medical assessment did not reveal the presence of any serious injury. Still not feeling well the next morning, the man again attended hospital. He was then diagnosed with a ruptured spleen, which was surgically removed.
Director Martino accepted that the force brought to bear was commensurate with the exigencies of the situation. He concluded there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the subject officials comported themselves other than lawfully in their dealings with the man, leaving no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case.
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.
Monica Hudon, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES