SIU clears Peterborough officer after police dog bites suspect during chase, arrest

Ontario’s police watchdog has cleared a Peterborough police officer of any wrongdoing after a man sustained dog bite injuries during an arrest in March.

According to a report filed by Special Investigations Unit (SIU) director Joseph Martino, on March 18, Peterborough Police Service officers around 2 a.m. responded to reports of a vehicle theft involving a driver who was colliding with other vehicles in the King Street parkade.

Martino reports an officer saw the suspect SUV driven by a 30-year-old man. The SUV struck a police vehicle before it fled southbound on Aylmer Street.

“The man crashed into a fence in the Morrow Park area, ran away on foot and a police service dog was deployed,” Martino stated. “The man was bit on his left and right thighs.”

Martino in his report noted that the officer “shouted at the complainant” that he would release the canine if he did not stop and did so as the chase continued. The dog maintained a hold on the suspect until the officer could arrest him, Martino said.

0:32 SIU investigates injuries during arrest after driver strikes police vehicles in Peterborough

The suspect suffered an approximately nine-centimetre laceration to his upper left thigh and a five-centimetre gash to the rear of his left leg, the report notes.

He was taken to Peterborough Regional Health Centre by paramedics for surgery and was later released. He faced charges of flight from police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, failure to provide a breath sample, impaired driving and failure to stop at the scene of an accident.

The SIU investigates any time a civilian has suffered an injury, death or sexual assault at the hands of an officer or an officer discharges a firearm at a person. Three investigators were deployed following the man’s arrest.

Martino’s report noted that police officers are “immune from criminal liability” for force used in the course of their duties “provided such force was reasonably necessary in the execution of an act that they were required or authorized to do by law.”

Martino noted that the Peterborough officer had reason to conduct an arrest based on the suspect’s actions. Martino said he was “satisfied” that the use of the police service dog constituted “legally justified force,” especially after the officer warned the complainant about the potential use of the dog.

“The complainant’s escape was a real possibility but for the use of the dog, and there was some urgency in apprehending him given his reckless driving to that point,” said Martino. “The dog did as it was trained to do — it caught up with the complainant and bit and held him down pending the arrival of officers.

“There is some indication that the complainant punched at the dog, which might account for the fact that three bites appear to have been inflicted. Be that as it may, I am unable to reasonably conclude that the multiple bites are necessarily evidence of excessive force.”