Ontario’s police watchdog has concluded there is no reason to lay criminal charges against police in relation to third-degree burns sustained by a man in Chatham last June.
In fact, Special Investigations Unit (SIU) director Tony Loparco commended the actions of two officers, saying they were responsible for saving the man’s life.
According to the SIU report, Chatham-Kent police officers went to a residence at roughly 1:30 in the morning on July 1, 2017 to conduct a well-being check on a man after his wife received texts from him, indicating he was upset about their marital situation and intended to harm himself.
Four officers attended and attempted to negotiate with the man, who told officers to get out and that he was going to count to three. The SIU reports he counted “one” and stood up, “two” and lifted the gas container and lighter up to shoulder height, and when he counted “three,” he brought the gas container and lighter together and was engulfed in flames.
One officer told the man to get onto the ground and roll while a second officer removed his police jacket and tried to smother the flames. The second officer saw the gas container melting beside the man and kicked it out of the area, resulting in gas splashing and setting his boot and uniform on fire; those flames were quickly extinguished. Police say the man was on fire for about 60 to 90 seconds before the flames were put out completely.
The man was taken to hospital where he spent eight weeks in the burn unit after suffering third-degree burns to 60 per cent of his body.
The SIU says the man confirmed what police reported, but he appeared “to assign some blame to police in that it was their presence that caused him to become upset and suffer his ‘impulsive accident.'”
The investigation concluded that there was no physical interaction with police and limited verbal interaction before the man set himself on fire, and that police were actually responsible for saving the man.