The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has determined it will not be issuing charges to the police involved in the arrest of a man in Flesherton who was later diagnosed with a fractured left foot.
The investigation was focused on an Oct. 5, 2020 arrest in Flesherton.
According to the SIU report, a 30-year-old man was involved in a collision in the intersection of Concession Road 3 and Sideroad 35 in Flesherton. The man fled on foot into a wooded area nearby. There were outstanding warrants for his arrest.
Officers located the man, with the help of a police dog, behind a cedar tree about 30 metres off the roadway, and arrested him. He was later diagnosed with a fractured left foot.
“While it remains unclear whether the injury was aggravated by police in the course of his arrest, the director of the special investigations unit, Joseph Martino, is unable to reasonably conclude that any of the arresting officers acted other than lawfully in their dealings with the man,” stated a news release issued by the SIU.
The arms-length organization is called in for an investigation when an individual is injured or killed while in police custody or during an incident involving police. The SIU also investigates allegations of sexual assault made against a police officer.
The SIU deemed the Oct. 5 arrest of the 30-year-old man was lawful, reporting the plates on the vehicle were stolen.
Investigators obtained medical records for the man’s broken foot, and report the evidence shows the injury was sustained days before the Oct. 5 arrest. However, the SIU director said it’s unclear whether officers aggravated the injury with force used during the arrest.
Use of force for an arrest is permitted, provided the force was “reasonably necessary.”
The director’s report states there is evidence officers may have pushed the man’s left foot into the ground when he was lying prone and was unable to do so because of a pre-existing foot injury.
“There’s no reason to believe that the officer … was aware of the injury,” stated Martino’s report. “I am unable to fault the officer for forcing the complainant’s foot down to the ground when the complainant failed to do so himself.”
The report also states there were allegations the man was forced to the ground, had a knee pressed into his shoulder, and was punched in the ribs.
Witnesses interviewed for the investigation contested the allegations.
“With respect to the takedown and knee push, whether they occurred or not, I am not satisfied that they constituted excessive force in the context of the arrest of an individual who had fled from the scene of a collision and taken steps to conceal his location in a wooded area,” stated Martino in his report.
Because Martino deemed the force as reasonable and the arrest warranted, he has closed the file with no charges to be laid against officers involved in the arrest.
You can read the full report online here.
