News Release
SIU Concludes Investigation into Woman’s Broken Arm in Toronto Arrest
Case Number: 24-TCI-092
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, found no reasonable grounds to believe three Toronto Police Service officers committed criminal offences in relation to the broken left arm of a 36-year-old woman. On February 28, 2024, police were called to an LCBO store at 49 Spadina Avenue after the woman was being held by security officers for theft and an assault on a security guard.
Officers took the woman into custody. While in the back of the cruiser, the woman’s left hand slipped from the cuff. Officers removed her from the cruiser and she resisted while police attempted to reapply the cuff. The cuff was reapplied, and she was put back into the cruiser. The woman was taken to hospital and diagnosed with a serious injury.
Director Martino found that while the woman’s left arm was regrettably broken, whether in the course of the initial search or the subsequent struggle on the ground, the injury appeared more the product of countervailing forces and awkward angles coming together in a dynamic event rather than heavy-handed or unnecessary force by the officers.
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