News Release
SIU Discontinues Investigation into Man’s Serious injuries in Windsor
Case Number: 22-OCI-238
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has terminated an investigation into the serious injuries suffered by a 50-year-old man who had been arrested by Windsor Police Service officers last September.
On September 12, 2022, the officers arrested the man without incident. The next day, the man complained of a sore jaw while in police custody and was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a fractured jaw and vertebrae. Based on the SIU’s preliminary inquiries, the man’s injuries were due to a fall from a bike three weeks before the arrest and had nothing to do with police. In the circumstances, as the man did not suffer a serious injury in connection with his arrest or time in police custody, the SIU was without statutory jurisdiction to investigate the matter. The file has been closed.
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