News Release
No Charges Against OPP Officer After Woman Suffers Serious Injury in Thorndale
Case Number: 22-PCI-113
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that an Ontario Provincial Police officer committed a criminal offence in connection with a serious injury suffered by a 36-year-old woman in April.
On April 18, 2022, the woman and a man fled the scene of a crash involving a stolen vehicle on Thorndale Road. The woman and the other individual were arrested. During the arrest, the officer may have temporarily placed a knee on the woman’s back while in the process of handcuffing her. The woman’s injury may have in fact been suffered in the collision, as she had been in the trunk of the Buick as it travelled on Thorndale Road and then crashed in the ditch.
In the result, Director Martino was satisfied that the subject official comported himself lawfully throughout his engagement with the woman, leaving no basis for proceeding with criminal charges against the officer. The file has been closed.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision): https://siu.on.ca/en/directors_report_details.php?drid=2082
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