News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Man Seriously Injured in Toronto Police Custody
Case Number: 23-TCI-454
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, found no reasonable grounds to believe Toronto Police Service officers committed a criminal offence in connection with the serious injuries suffered by a 36-year-old man while he was in custody.
On November 1, 2023, officers arrested the man, at Tim Hortons located at 26 Dundas Street East, for assault. He resisted and was grounded. After his arrest, he was was placed in the back of the police cruiser where he repeatedly struck his head off the window and partition, cutting his forehead. Officers called for paramedics who found he was not seriously injured.
While inside an interview room, the man struck himself twice to the right side of the head, after which he started to destroy the room. He struggled against the officers as they forcibly removed him from the room and placed him inside another interview room before handcuffing him to the back. He was strip searched and resisted. The man complained of pain and was transported by ambulance to hospital and diagnosed with a broken nose and fractured left orbital bone.
Director Martino found some force was brought to bear against the man by his custodians but it would not appear responsible for the injuries in question. In fact, the evidence suggests that the man’s facial fractures were self-inflicted, leaving no basis for proceeding with criminal charges.
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