A provincial crime unit has cleared police officers of unlawful conduct after a 32-year-old man sustained a broken rib injury during an arrest earlier this year.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said officers responded to a call in Tillsonburg to investigate the theft of an industrial blue bin on June 5.
The incident took place around Bridge and Bidwell streets where the man had been sitting in a wheelchair stolen from a hospital, gave police a false name, and fled the area with officers in pursuit, the SIU said.
During the chase, the man slipped and fell to the ground, the SIU said.
(Credit: Special Investigations Unit)
One officer held the man by his arm while another arrived, and then both struck the man before placing him in handcuffs, the SIU said.
The man was then taken to Alexandra Hospital and diagnosed with fractures of two right-sided ribs, SIU officials said in a statement.
“[T]he evidence falls short of any reasonable showing that the force used by the officers was unnecessary,” said Joseph Martino, director of the SIU.
“While I accept that (the man’s) ribs were fractured in his run-in with police, whether the result of his one or more falls while fleeing apprehension or the punch or knee delivered by the (police officer), there are no reasonable grounds to believe the injuries are attributable to unlawful conduct on the part of the officers.”
As a result of the investigation, no criminal charges have been laid and the case has been closed.
