News Release
No Charges to Issues Against Officer in Relation to Apprehension of Man on Toronto Overpass
Case Number: 23-TCI-293
In the morning of April 24, 2023, two Toronto Police Service officers were traveling travelling in a cruiser over Highway 401 on the Kipling Avenue overpass when they noticed a man straddling the east side railing of the bridge. Concerned the man was going to jump, the officers exited the cruiser and went towards him. Attempts were made to communicate with the man, but the man told them not to get any closer. After a couple of minutes, the man stood on the concrete ledge of the railing briefly before jumping to the sidewalk below. The officers moved in and attempted to grab hold of the man, and a struggle ensued. He was shortly after apprehended. At hospital, the 23-year-old man was diagnosed with a fracture of the right orbital bone. On his assessment of the evidence, SIU Director Joseph Martino determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe that an officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the man’s injury.
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