Carjacking task force takedown ends with skull fracture of Brampton man: SIU

No charges will be laid against a Toronto police officer after a Brampton man suffered a skull fracture during a carjacking task force investigation.

The takedown happened on May 17, 2024, while officers with the Toronto Police Service Carjacking Task Force were investigating reports of a stolen vehicle spotted in the area of Bramsteele Road, Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit says.

A stolen Jeep Wrangler had been seen in the area the week before, and plain-clothes officers in unmarked vehicles found the vehicle parked beside a loading bay.

After setting up surveillance, the detective in charge of the operation ordered a takedown of a male suspect seen exiting the vehicle.

But the male suspect tried to flee from police on foot and scaled a fence before falling into a creek at the bottom of a ravine.

One of the officers also fell into the same creek and handcuffed the suspect. The SIU says the man was arrested and taken to hospital where he was diagnosed “with a hairline skull fracture.”

And while the suspect claimed the arresting officer struck him “multiple times in the left side of the head with the butt of his gun,” the SIU says “no strikes of any kind were delivered.”

“The officer admits he had his gun out at one point in the ravine when, on first seeing the (suspect), he observed an object in his hand. He quickly re-holstered his gun, however, when it appeared the object was a cell phone,” the SIU says.

The suspect’s injuries “would appear consistent with a fall in the creek,” and no charges will be laid against the officer, the SIU says.

The SIU is Ontario’s police watchdog agency that investigates police incidents in Ontario involving death, serious injury, the discharge of a firearm, or allegations of sexual assault.