News Release

SIU Concludes Investigation into Man’s Broken Shoulder in Kingston Arrest

Case Number: 25-OCI-031   

Mississauga, ON (16 May, 2025) ---
The Special Investigations Unit found no reasonable grounds to believe Kingston Police officers committed a criminal offence in connection with the fractured left shoulder suffered by a 53-year-old man. On January 24, 2025, officers and a mental health professional were dispatched to an apartment in the area of King Street West and Country Club Drive in Kingston. The man was displaying signs of delusions, paranoia and behaving violently towards officers. Officers attempted to apprehend the man under the Mental Health Act.

Director Joseph Martino found it apparent the man struggled against the officers’ efforts to take him into custody, so it made sense to resort to a measure of force -- a takedown -- to accomplish their task. The evidence further established that the grounding was not performed with undue force.

In the result, while Director Martino accepted that the man’s fracture happened during the struggle that marked his arrest, there were no reasonable grounds to believe the injury was the result of unwarranted force on the part of the subject officials. 

Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision): 

The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (municipal, regional and provincial police officers, police officers with the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, 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.

Monica Hudon, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES