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.
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.