The province’s police watchdog has terminated its investigation into an incident that led to a 28-year-old man sustaining a "serious injury" in Innisfil several months ago.
On Feb. 28, the man was alone inside a friend’s apartment when he heard banging on the door from plainclothes Ontario Provincial Police officers, who were there to execute a search warrant. Uncertain of who was doing the pounding, the man fled out the back door and onto the grounds of the building complex, Ontario's Special Investigations Unit said in a media release issued June 21.
“In bare feet, he ran and leaped over a chest-high wall,” the SIU said. “He fell to the ground below — a distance of several metres — and fractured his right heel in the process.”
Based on preliminary inquiries, including a review of video footage that captured the incident, SIU director Joseph Martino agreed to discontinue the probe.
While the officers pursued the man, they did not have an opportunity to "physically engage" with him before he jumped, the SIU says.
“The man was responsible for the consequences of an ill-fated decision to jump over a wall not knowing what the descent on the other side was like,” the agency said. “On this record, there was patently nothing to investigate as far as the potential criminal liability of any police officer was concerned.”
The SIU is an independent government agency called in to investigate whenever officer conduct may have led to death, serious injury, sexual assault or the discharge of a firearm at a person. All investigations are conducted by civilian SIU personnel.
Investigations consider whether the officer has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident. Depending on the evidence, the case can either be closed or lead to criminal charges against the officer.
The results are then publicly reported.
More information on the SIU can be found at siu.on.ca.
