News Release

In the evening of July 25, 2023, Toronto Police Service officers were called to a residence after an occupant reported that a tenant was acting strangely, and the occupant was worried for the safety of others in the home. Two officers entered the home and made their way to a bedroom where there was a 48-year-old man. The man indicated he felt fine and denied wanting to hurt himself. Asked if he wanted to go to hospital, the man declined. About ten minutes later,  another officer and two members with the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team arrived at the residence, and the man was engaged in conversation. Shortly thereafter, the man admitted to having thoughts of suicide. At about the same time the man was advised that there were grounds for an apprehension under the Mental Health Act, the man lifted a bottle from a nearby table and drank from it. Those in attendance quickly came to learn that the bottle contained automobile brake fluid.  An ambulance was called, and the man received treatment in the ICU. 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 connection with the man’s apprehension. 

     

Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision): https://www.siu.on.ca/en/directors_reports.php.