Peel officer broke no law in breaking drunk man’s nose during arrest at a Brampton bar
Published August 19, 2022 at 7:41 pm
A Peel Police office is off the hook after a he broke a drunk suspect’s nose while arresting the man for assault.
The suspect, called the Complainant in the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) report, attended an event at the Chandni Banquet Hall at 125 Chrysler Drive.
The officer who would go on to break the Complainant’s nose, dubbed the Subject Officer (SO), and his partner, the Witness Officer (WO) were working the event as paid-duty officer.
The Complainant, a tall man in a grey suit, became inebriated by shortly before midnight. At 11:50 p.m. an event organizer approached the SO and asked him to come over to the hall’s bar to quash a disturbance.
When the officer approached, the Complainant was so intoxicated other patron were holding him up to the bar. The bartender cut the Complainant off and told him to leave.
The Complainant struggled against the men holding him up and gestured toward one of their heads.
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The SO and WO watched as the Complainant struck one of the men holding him up right. The WO approached the group and grabbed the complainant b the arm.
The Complainant reacted by turning into the WO and slapping her on the chest. The WO said “Let’s go,” according to her body worn camera, and told the group to “Get him out or he’s going to be arrested.”
“I’m going to give you three minutes to get out of here or he’s going to be arrested, get moving,” she said. The group of three men pulled the Complainant along while he resisted. The SO and WO came over to help push the Complainant around.
The Complainant, at this point “belligerent,” struggled with the SO as the SO dragged him out into the hall’s lobby. He then got into a “verbal interaction” with another guest which the SO broke up.
The Complainant refused to go any further than the lobby and and tried to kick the SO. As a result the SO cuffed the Complainant.
After dragging him outside the SO radioed for a cruiser. The Complainant slurred, ““Don’t push me, OK…relax…you cannot do that…I didn’t hit…you have no evidence.” The WO replied, “Yes, you did.”
The Complainant thrashed and tried to twist free, dragging the officers along with him as he tried to walk away. The SO, still holding the other man’s arm, tripped him onto the ground. The Complainant’s nose broke from the impact.
The SO held down the Complainants torso and the WO took the legs. The WO also pulled her taser saying “I will f*ckin’ tase him.”
The SO continued to hold the man on the ground until the backup cruiser arrived. The officers put the Complainant in to cruiser until an ambulance arrived.
At 12:15 the Complainant was taken to hospital via and ambulance.
The SIU was notified the next morning and engaged their mandate to investigate any interactions with police resulting in serious injury or death.
After an investigation, SIU Director Joseph Martino concluded there was “no reasonable grounds to believe that the SO committed a criminal offence.”
“Police officers are immune from criminal liability for force used in the course of their duties,” Martino said, “The Complainant had struck a patron in the reception hall and was clearly subject to arrest for assault. Once in the lawful custody of the police, the officers were entitled to exercise reasonable control of his movements.”
“I am unable to reasonably conclude [the use of force] was unjustified. The Complainant was intoxicated, belligerent and combative. He had tried to kick the SO and was attempting to break free of the officers’ hold.”
As result of the SIU findings the SO will not face charges for the broken nose.
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