An investigation into how a man broke his wrist has concluded with the Special Investigations Unit saying there was no evidence of criminality on the part of the police.
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The SIU investigated the matter because Brantford police wrestled with and arrested the man after he hit a cruiser, fire hydrant and a parked vehicle, and took off, only to have another collision.
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A report released Friday by the SIU provides details of the incident.
Police were contacted by drivers who noticed a vehicle sitting in the intersection of Gray and Market streets in Brantford with the driver sleeping or unconscious at about 4 am on Sept. 2.
Before trying to wake the male driver, a spike belt was placed behind his Jeep and, once conscious, the driver immediately reversed his vehicle into a cruiser, blowing out two tires of his vehicle on the deflation device.
Police didn’t chase the driver, but followed and video surveillance cameras showed the fast-moving Jeep traveling alone on West Street before crashing into another vehicle in the parking lot of an apartment building.
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Officers located the man who argued with them. Eventually officers grounded the man to arrest him.
Later, the man claimed he was repeatedly struck in the head and an officer stomped on his right hand but the investigation found some evidence the injury occurred in the car accident and the man had complained to officers that his arm was broken as they tried to arrest him.
Once in custody, the man was being driven to Waterloo for testing as there was no Intoxilyzer technician available in Brantford and he became unconscious somewhere along Highway 24.
Police did CPR and called for emergency medical help.
At that point, the man regained consciousness so he was driven to the hospital back in Brantford where he was diagnosed and treated for a broken right wrist.
According to SIU director Joseph Martino, there were no reasonable grounds to believe an officer committed a criminal offense to cause the injury.
According to the original police report, a search of the Jeep found about 52 grams of suspected cocaine.
The 41-year-old man – also referred to by the SIU as 31 years old – was charged with eight counts of driving while prohibited, two counts of dangerous driving, flight from police, resisting arrest, causing a disturbance and possession of cocaine for trafficking.
@EXPSGamble
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