News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Man Seriously Injured During Arrest by OPP Officers in Fergus
Case Number: 23-PCI-333
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, found no reasonable grounds to believe an Ontario Provincial Police officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the arrest of a 43-year-old man in Fergus in April.
On April 8, 2023, the man was arrested for public intoxication. During his arrest, the man was forced to the ground. Other officers intervened to take the man into custody. The man was punched in the face, handcuffed and put into a cruiser. The man was taken to hospital and diagnosed with a fractured left knee. Director Martino found the evidence falls short of establishing that the force used was excessive.
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