News Release
No Grounds to Charge Officer in Relation to Mississauga Arrest
Case Number: 22-OCI-042
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has found no reasonable grounds to believe that a Peel Regional Police officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the serious injury suffered by a 56-year-old man in the course of his February arrest.
In the afternoon of February 12, 2022, officers attended an apartment building in Mississauga for a noise complaint. The officers learned that a man was present in the apartment with his common-law spouse, in violation of the terms of a recent release order. They were inebriated and had been arguing all day. The officers entered the apartment unit after the door was opened by the common-law spouse and advised the man that he was under arrest. The man threatened to assault the person who had contacted the police and then threatened to assault one of the officers as he approached the officer in a boxer’s stance. The officer grabbed hold of the man’s right arm and forced him to the floor. The man landed with his left arm under him, suffering a fracture of the arm in the process.
While accepting that the man broke his left arm when he fell awkwardly on it having been forced to the floor by the officer, Director Martino concluded there were no reasonable grounds to conclude that the injury was attributable to unlawful conduct on the part of the officer. There was no basis for proceeding with 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