News Release

SIU Concludes Death Investigation in Quinte West

Case Number: 13-PCD-144   

Other News Releases Related to Case 13-PCD-144

SIU Investigates Falling Death in Quinte West

Mississauga (9 September, 2013) --- The Director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ian Scott, has concluded that there are no reasonable grounds to charge an Ontario Provincial Police officer with any criminal offence in relation to the death of a 38-year-old man in June of 2013.

The SIU assigned three investigators and two forensic investigators to probe the circumstances of this incident. As part of the investigation, four witness officers and 10 civilian witnesses were interviewed. The subject officer participated in an SIU interview and provided a copy of his duty notes.

The SIU investigation found that the following events took place on Tuesday, June 25, 2013:
• In the afternoon hours, the subject officer was dispatched to a call regarding a male who had contacted the OPP Communications Centre and said that he was standing on a bridge, that the traffic was bad, that he was going to jump and he did not want anyone to be hurt. 
• The subject officer approached the Glen Miller Road overpass over Hwy 401 in his police cruiser and saw the man seated against a railing on the overpass. The officer stopped his cruiser about seven metres away from the man and exited his vehicle. The man yelled at the officer to stay back and hopped over the railing, positioning himself on a ledge such that there was no barrier between himself and a free fall to the highway below.  The subject officer stopped moving and stood in front of his cruiser, attempting to engage the man in conversation. The officer radioed the Communications Centre and requested that the 401 traffic be blocked. The traffic below began to slow. The man threw his backpack and bicycle helmet onto the highway below him. The subject officer continued to attempt to communicate with the man. The man then looked at the subject officer, said ‘thank you’, and jumped off the overpass ledge.
• The subject officer and another officer immediately ran down the overpass embankment to the highway and administered first aid to the man who was lying in an unconscious state. Paramedics arrived shortly thereafter. The man was declared deceased at the scene.

Director Scott said, “All information gathered in this investigation suggests that the subject officer was not in any way responsible for the tragic demise of the man. The man had signaled a plan to commit suicide by jumping from an overpass before the arrival of the subject officer, and consummated that plan after the officer’s arrival at the scene. There is no suggestion that the officer had any physical contact with the man. On the contrary, he kept his distance, attempted to communicate with him, and assisted in administering first aid after the man jumped from the overpass.”

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