2 days ago
SIU clears 2 officers after suspects receive orbital bone fractures
The logo of the Ontario Special Investigations Unit is pictured in Toronto on Friday, April 12, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey
Two people were sitting in a stolen Jeep SUV in April when they were confronted by unmarked police vehicles in the driveway of a rural property in Schomberg.
Members of the York Regional Police Auto Cargo Theft Unit blocked the front and rear of the Jeep so it couldn't drive away.
The two people jumped out of the jeep and ran.
One police man caught up to the driver and tackled the 34-year-ol man to the ground.
Following a struggle, the man was arrested and taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a fractured left orbital bone.
SIU director Joseph Martino determined there were no reasonable grounds to find the officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the man's arrest and injury.
In March, a Barrie woman called police to report the man she was residing with a man who had both cocaine and a gun.
Tactical Support Unit officers approached the front door and used a battering ram to force it open.
A distraction device was deployed and officers entered through the doorway into the foyer.
The man, who was asleep at the time, awoke to the sounds of police entering his home.
At the direction of the officers, the man left his bedroom with his hands up and began to walk down the stairs. When he reached into pocket of his hooded sweatshirt, officers feared he was reaching for a firearm.
They grabbed the man by the right arm and pulled him down. In the process of falling forward, the man suffered a fractured orbital bone when his face struck the barrel of an officer's C8 rifle.
On his assessment of the evidence, SIU Director Joseph Martino determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe that an officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the 27-year-old man's arrest and injury.
