A Branford police officer has been cleared of charges by Ontario’s police watchdog in connection with a shooting that wounded a suspect in May.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says the 27-year-old shot was the subject of a drug traffic investigation when approached by police officers at a Scenic Ridge Gate residence around 4 p.m. on May 29.
An incident narrative from the SIU said the suspect, in a vehicle returning home from a Toronto trip, attempted to evade plain clothes officers in unmarked vehicles.
During attempts to stop and arrest the man, he allegedly tried to drive his vehicle into an officer.
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The officer would point his gun at the car and fire four times.
A pair of bullets struck the suspect — once in the left bicep, the other in the left forearm beside the elbow.
The driver would temporarily escape across a lawn but was later arrested in Brantford around St. George Street and Belaire Road.
He was sent to a Hamilton hospital for treatment.
In closing the case, SIU Director Tony Martino said there were no reasonable grounds to believe the officer who discharged his gun committed a criminal offence.
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