Two Sudbury police officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing in carrying out the arrest of a Sudbury man last summer, after Greater Sudbury Police Service (GSPS) responded to a call involving a fight and an alleged stabbing.
It was discovered that one individual suffered a hand injury during the evening. The man was taken to hospital after his arrest and treated for a broken knuckle.
Because of the injury, the incident was investigated by Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU).
SIU Director Joseph Martino has determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe that any of the officers comported themselves unlawfully throughout their engagement with the man. There was no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case, said the SIU report.
As per SIU’s investigation, the incident occurred on Aug. 29. GSPS officers were dispatched to investigate a fight call in a residential area. The two men involved were neighbours. Each person made calls to the 911 centre, asking for help.
The report identifies one person as the “Complainant” and the other person as “Witness No.1”.
In one call (9:53 p.m.), the Complainant said the Witness had attacked him on the street, pushing him to the ground and punching him in the face. Shouting, the Witness accused the Complainant of breaking his car windows.
A short time later, Witness called 911 to report Complainant was breaking the windows of his car with a hammer. He asked for police to come to his home. Witness said Complainant had been drinking. By then, the Complainant had left and walked home, said the SIU narrative.
A second call, at 10:36 p.m. was made by the Witness to 911. The Witness said he had been stabbed by the Complainant in front of his own home. (A description of the stabbing was not included in the SIU report.) The Witness was locked in his home at this point and believed the Complainant was outside waiting for him. He said the Complainant had a knife.
Minutes later, at 10:38 p.m., the Complainant called 911 to again report the initial attack but also to request an ambulance because he was bleeding from the thumb.
Just over a minute later, the Complainant was seen in the driveway of the Witness's home by two police officers who had just arrived and ordered him to put his hands out to his side. He complied. The police asked twice where the knife was. The Complainant said, “The knife is on my… it’s on my…” and never gave a complete answer.
The police officers moved forward to arrest the Complainant. As one police officer reached out to take hold of Complainant, he pulled away from the police officer. At that point, the officer put the Complainant on the ground and arrested him.
"A takedown, per se, would appear a reasonable tactic given the Complainant’s resistance and the possibility of a knife on his person. In that position, the officers could expect to better manage the risks of an armed and uncooperative arrestee," said the SIU report.
Sometime later the report states the Complainant asked for medical attention for the injury to his hand.
The SIU report said there was no clear evidence that police did anything unlawful.
"It remains unclear whether the Complainant’s injury was incurred in his confrontation with the subject officials (Police) or Witness No. 1. Be that as it may, as there are no reasonable grounds to believe that [the officers] comported themselves unlawfully throughout their engagement with the Complainant, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case."
