News Release
SIU Finds no Basis to Charge Toronto Officers in Relation to Man’s Death Following Drug Consumption
Case Number: 23-TCD-127
Other News Releases Related to Case 23-TCD-127
In the morning of April 28, 2023, Toronto Police Service officers arrested a 32-year-old man who was observed in what appeared to be a drug transaction. The man was handcuffed behind his back, subjected to a search and then placed in a cruiser for transport to the police station. When the officer driving the cruiser could not see the man in his rearview mirror, the cruiser was stopped. Officers checked on the man and noticed that the man had placed a plastic bag with a white powder in his mouth. The bag was removed from the man’s mouth, and he was taken to hospital. He was pronounced deceased in the evening. On his assessment of the evidence, SIU Director Joseph Martino determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe that any officer committed a criminal offence in this case. There was no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case, and 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.
Monica Hudon, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES