News Release
SIU Determines no Criminal Charges to Proceed in Halton Hills Arrest Case
Case Number: 22-OCI-216
Witness Assistance
On August 25, 2022, Halton Regional Police Service officers entered the garage of a residence in Halton Hills on the strength of a search warrant that had been issued in support of a drug investigation. In the garage, an officer ordered a 20-year-old man to the ground and proceeded to tackle him. There followed a short struggle during which the officer delivered several knee strikes to the man’s right side and back before controlling his arms and handcuffing them behind the back. At hospital, the man was diagnosed with a laceration above the right eye and a fractured nose. While accepting that the man’s injuries were the result of the force used by the officer, SIU Director Joseph Martino determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe they were attributable to unlawful conduct on the part of the officer. 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.
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