News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Man Seriously Injured During Arrest in Kitchener
Case Number: 23-OCI-335
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, found no reasonable grounds to believe a Waterloo Regional Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the arrest and broken arm suffered by a 51-year-old man last December. The SIU launched an investigation in August after it received information that stemmed from a complaint made to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.
On December 31, 2022, officers were called the area of St. Leger Street and Victoria Marie Court for a complaint about the man. He was allegedly driving by the residence of two individuals repeatedly.
The officers directed the man to stop the behaviour but he continued to remain in the area and approach the residence in his vehicle. The man was told to open his car door, but he failed to do so. Officers attempted to arrest him for harassment. The man physically resisted the officers’ efforts to extract him from this vehicle and secure him in handcuffs. Body worn camera footage showed the officers pulling the man out of the vehicle and wrestling control of the man’s arms behind his back. No strikes were delivered.
While Director Martino accepted that the man’s broken arm happened during his arrest, he found it was not the result of any excessive force brought to bear by either officer.
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