Officer not facing charges after man injured during arrest in motel parking lot in Mississauga

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Published October 6, 2020 at 7:05 pm

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A Peel Regional Police officer will not be facing charges after a 40-year-old man was injured during an arrest outside of a motel in Mississauga, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says. 

According to a recent SIU report, police were called to a motel on Dundas St. E. in Mississauga around 6:50 pm on June 11, 2020, after a man reportedly damaged a resident’s unit and assaulted another person in the room. 

The SIU says the man left the scene but returned a short time later on his bicycle and banged on a windowpane and broke the glass.

The report says an officer, who agreed to be interviewed by the SIU but declined to submit his notes, arrived within minutes of the 911 call and was directed to the back area of the property by motel guests. The report says the man, who was on his bicycle, attempted to flee the scene but was told by the officer to stop. 

According to the SIU, the man attempted to keep riding but fell off his bike and was subsequently handcuffed and taken into custody. 

The man was eventually transferred into York Regional Police custody, as the police service had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. While in custody, the man complained of chest pain and was taken to hospital and diagnosed with a rib fracture.

Joseph Martino, the director of the SIU, said that there are “no reasonable grounds to believe that the [officer] committed a criminal offence in connection with the [man’s] arrest and injury.” 

In his analysis, Martino wrote that there are some discrepancies and that some evidence suggests that the officer tackled the man from behind. According to the report, the officer says that the man fell off his bike when he attempted a sharp turn. 

Martino wrote that regardless of what prompted the fall, “there is no suggestion, in any of the evidence, of any undue force by the [officer] following the [man’s] fall.” 

“…While I accept that the [man’s] fractured rib resulted when he fell from his bicycle and impacted the ground, there is insufficient evidence to reasonably conclude that the [officer] acted other than lawfully throughout the incident. Accordingly, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case and the file is closed.”

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