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Joseph Martino, the director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), said he found “no reasonable grounds” that the officer had committed a criminal offense during the arrest.
The incident took place around 11:15 pm on Aug. 5, when officers saw a wanted person riding a bicycle with no lights in the area of Talfourd Road and Elsfield Crescent. The suspect initially fled on his bicycle, but was caught and “grounded” by police.
One of the officers hit the man with a baton on the right side during his arrest. He complained of right-arm pain and was taken to Bluewater Health, where doctors found two small fractures that didn’t need surgery.
Martino noted that although the man was “seriously” injured, the officer did not commit a criminal offense as police are immune from criminal liability if using force was “reasonably necessary in the execution of an act that they are required or authorized to do by law . ”
He pointed out in his report the man was wanted on “serious” charges at the time.
“Consequently, the officers were within their rights in seeking to arrest the complainant,” he wrote.
Using a baton, meanwhile, was a “rational and proportionate use of force” as the suspect was pedaling “as fast as he could” and he could’ve escaped, Martino said.
“I am unable to reasonably conclude that some lesser use of force would have been more proportionate and less apt to cause injury,” he said.
The SIU is an arm’s-length provincial agency that investigates all shootings, serious injuries, deaths and allegations of sexual assault involving police officers.