SIU clears Hamilton officer of wrongdoing after man injured in knife incident

TORONTO – The province’s police watchdog says there are no reasonable grounds to charge a Hamilton Police officer in relation to the injuries sustained by an 18-year-old man in Hamilton in May last year.

The incident took place around 11 p.m. on May 9 when police responded to reports of a man who was armed with a knife and acting aggressively in a home.

The Special Investigations Unit says the first officer at the scene was met by the man’s father, who confirmed his son was intoxicated, possibly armed with a knife and that a six-year-old child was in the residence.

The SIU says the officer entered the home, encountered the man who was covered in blood and sweat and acting hostile, and became involved in a struggle with him.

The SIU says a second officer then arrived and discharged his conducted energy weapon at the man’s upper back, but it didn’t seem to have the desired effect.

The SIU says a third officer then arrived, saw the first two officers struggling with the man, and deployed his own conducted energy weapon which hit the man on his face and neck.

The man was taken to a hospital for the surgical removal of the conducted energy weapon probes.

The SIU says that given the circumstances, there is no doubt the officer was entitled to help in the man’s arrest and the use of his conducted energy weapon was not excessive.