News Release
No Charges Against Officer in Relation to St. Catharines Arrest
Case Number: 22-OCI-163
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the injury suffered by a 57-year-old man in June.
Shortly after midnight on June 27, 2022, NRPS officers were dispatched to a restaurant on Lake Street in St. Catharines after a call to police reporting that a man was hitting other patrons of the restaurant. An officer located the man, and when the officer directed him to leave the premises, the man pulled away and continued to yell. Having managed to walk the man to the police cruiser, the officer searched him and felt what he believed was a pocketknife. Not wanting the man to access the knife, the officer forced the man to the ground by tripping him over his left leg. Officers arrested the man for trespass and placed him in the cruiser. He was taken home and released from custody. About ten minutes later, the same officers were dispatched to a convenience store near the man’s house. Staff at the store had contacted police to report that a man had entered the business with apparent injuries. Upon their arrival, the officers observed that the man they had arrested earlier was more injured than he had appeared at the time of his release from custody. The man was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a fractured left wrist.
It was unclear when the man fractured his hand – it could have been broken in a physical altercation between the man and a restaurant patron prior to the officers’ arrival at the establishment, or it may have occurred in the takedown by the officer. In any event, Director Martino determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer comported himself other than lawfully in his dealings with the man. There was no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case and the file has been closed.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision): https://www.siu.on.ca/en/directors_reports.php.
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