News Release
SIU Investigates Ottawa Injury
Case Number: 07-OCI-004
Other News Releases Related to Case 07-OCI-004
Early this morning at about 2:45 a.m., two men were picked up by a cab driver in the area of Greenbank and Iris Drive in Ottawa. The cab driver called the Ottawa Police Service when he noticed that one of the passengers appeared to have a weapon. As a result, a number of officers responded and stopped the cab in the area of Merivale Road and Trenton Avenue. The cab driver and one of the men exited the cab. Officers started speaking with a 26-year-old man who remained inside the cab. A short time later, the officers found he had suffered a serious injury to his eye. He was transported to Ottawa Civic Hospital where he is in critical condition.
SIU investigators are probing the nature and extent of police involvement in the circumstances surrounding the man's injury. The SIU has designated two subject and six witness officers and the investigation is continuing.
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