News Release

SIU Investigates Custody Death in London

Case Number: 10-OCD-157   

Mississauga (4 August, 2010) --- Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is probing the circumstances surrounding the custody death of a twenty-year-old man in London. The London Police Service (LPS) reported the following information to the SIU:
* On August 3, at approximately 6:30 p.m., officers attended a group home at 313 Clarke Road in London at the request of Emergency Medical Sevices (EMS) to deal with a male who was acting aggressively.
* There was an interaction between the man and officers, and he was arrested.
* EMS provided treatment to the man, and he was subsequently transported to London Health Sciences Centre - Victoria Hospital.
* He was pronounced dead at 8:22 p.m.

A postmortem will take place today. Five investigators and two forensic investigators from the SIU are investigating this incident. Anyone who may have information regarding this case is asked to contact the Unit at 416-622-0748 or 1-800-787-8529.

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