Waterloo regional police cleared of wrongdoing in holding cell incident

The province’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU) has closed the books on an incident which occurred last month in a Waterloo Regional Police holding cell.

On Dec. 19, Waterloo officers arrested a 24-year-old man in connection to a pair of convenience store robberies.

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The suspect was taken to a police station and placed into a holding cell where he subsequently banged his head onto the cell bars with extreme force several times, according to a statement from the SIU.

Officers came and spoke with the man but the SIU says he continued to punch himself in the face and hit his head on the bars. He was then transported to hospital to deal with his injuries and the SIU was called in to investigate.

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“The video evidence clearly establishes that any injury suffered by the man was self-inflicted and did not result from police conduct,” Tony Loparco, Director of the Special Investigations Unit, said in a statement. “In addition, the medical evidence shows no indication of serious injury.”

The SIU is mandated to investigate deaths, serious injuries or allegations of sexual assault involving police officers.