News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Woman’s Broken Nose During Arrest in Ottawa
Case Number: 23-OCI-279
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, found no reasonable grounds to believe an Ottawa Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the broken nose suffered by a 38-year-old woman during her arrest in July.
On July 21, 2023, officers were called to an address on Mohrs Road for a domestic disturbance. A man had called police to report that the woman had assaulted him and broken his nose. While attempting to arrest the woman, she went to the bedroom and slammed the door on the officers. The officer reached the door and kicked it open before it could close. The door swung back and struck the woman in the face, breaking her nose.
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