News Release
The SIU Concludes Investigation into Incident in Waterloo Region
Case Number: 08-OCI-120
In the early morning hours of June 27, 2008, a member of the public alerted police to a body floating in the Grand River. Officers waded in and pulled the 58-year-old man to shore where they found he was suffering from a serious laceration to his left wrist and forearm. Several hours earlier, the man had twice eluded police during two brief pursuits that followed an incident in which a handgun was allegedly pointed at a woman at a local motel. "Each time, the police terminated the pursuits judging their continuation to be too dangerous and contrary to the public interest," noted SIU Director James Cornish.
"The evidence is clear and unanimous," Mr. Cornish concluded, "that the injury was self-inflicted and that the police in no way caused it. Furthermore, it is clear on the evidence that once the police found this man and noticed his injury, they arranged for immediate medical treatment."
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