Ontario’s police watchdog has ended its investigation into the case of an off-duty Toronto-area police officer who broke a man’s leg during a fight at a Stratford hotel last month.
The Peel regional officer, whose name wasn’t released, was in Stratford for a youth hockey tournament on Nov. 5 when he got into a dispute with two men at a hotel, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said Tuesday.
The officer punched one of the men three times — twice in the face, once in the neck — after the man took “an aggressive posture, as if intending to strike” the officer, the SIU said.
The man who was punched fell to the ground and broke his leg, the SIU said, and Stratford police alerted the watchdog about the incident.
Because SIU director Tony Martino wasn’t satisfied the officer was exercising the powers of a police officer during the incident, he closed the file. “As such, the SIU was without jurisdiction to continue its investigation,” Martino said in a statement.
By law, the watchdog can only probe off-duty incidents if the officer was engaged in the investigation, pursuit, detention or arrest of a person.
The case has been referred to Stratford police for further investigation, the SIU said.
Stratford police didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Peel regional police.
The SIU investigates all cases of death, serious injury, police-involved shootings and allegations of sexual assault involving police officers.