Ontario’s police watchdog says there will be no charges laid against officers after an arrest at a St. Catharines Walmart in November 2019 sent a man to hospital with serious injuries.
A decision by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) director described the force used by two Niagara police officers as “reasonably necessary” to gain control over a man characterized as an “extremely strong” complainant.
“While it is clear that the complainant sustained his injury when he was taken to the ground by the subject officer and witness officer, I am satisfied that this level of force was reasonably necessary in the circumstances to gain control over the complainant and to place him in handcuffs,” the SIU’s Joseph Martino said in his report.
The SIU summary, based on interviews from two officers and a civilian witness, says that just before noon on Nov. 17, 2019, a Niagara Regional Police officer was dispatched to deal with an “unwanted person” at the supercentre on Vansickle Road.
Upon arrival, the officer entered the store and walked out the 35-year-old complainant per the request of store management, according to the SIU.
The SIU summary says the officer, believing the complainant was either under the influence of a narcotic, in a mental health crisis or both, called for the assistance of another officer, who reportedly arrived shortly thereafter, along with the complainant’s father, who was driving a rented U-Haul box van.
Officers say the complainant then got into the driver’s side of the van and “motioned as if to drive away,” according to Martino.
The two officers then reportedly removed the complainant from the truck and took him to ground when he began “resisting the efforts of the police officers,” Martino said.
The complainant was then taken to the Niagara Health St. Catharines hospital, where a cut under his right eye was diagnosed as a fractured orbital bone, according to the SIU.
In closing the file, Martino said he was “unable to form reasonable grounds” to believe either officer had committed a criminal offence.