Ontario's police oversight agency has cleared a Sudbury police officer of any wrongdoing in the arrest of a citizen who was found to have suffered a broken hand.
The SIU - Special Investigations Unit - whose job is to investigate any injury or death or sexual assault that occurs when a person is in police custody, has determined there was no evidence that the hand injury was the result of excessive force by police.
The incident occurred on June 12, 2020 in the parking area of the townhouse complex on Bruce Avenue, according to the SIU report. Police responded to a call from a housing authority official who identified a suspicious male person hanging around the parking area and occasionally laying down and sleeping on the ground beside vehicles. A closed-circuit video recording before police arrived showed the suspect appeared to have fallen to the ground, beside some vehicles, on a couple of occasions.
Police arrived and subsequently arrested a 28-year-old male and took him in for booking. During the process the suspect complained his left hand was injured as a result of a police officer stepping on it during the arrest. The suspect was taken to hospital where it was revealed his hand was broken. He was treated and returned to custody.
At one point during the arrest process, the SIU report revealed that the suspect tussled with one of the officers while they searched through his backpack. When the suspect pushed toward one of the officers, then pulled back and then tried to kick a police officer, the suspect was quickly spun around by an officer and twisted to the ground, first hitting with his left knee and then with his left shoulder, said the report.
One officer kneeled on the suspect's right leg to hold him to the ground. This was revealed through a dash-mounted camera in a police car.
Part of the report discussed whether the take-down of the suspect involved excessive use of force by the police officer.
In concluding his report, SIU Director Joseph Martino wrote the following:
"In the result, if the Complainant did in fact fracture his left hand in the course of his arrest by Witness Officer #1 and the Subject Officer, I am not satisfied with a reasonable level of confidence that the injury was the result of excessive force by the officers. Accordingly, there is no basis to proceed with criminal charges in this case and the file is closed.
