SIOUX LOOKOUT, Ont. - The Special Investigations Unit has terminated an investigation into injuries sustained by a man in police custody in Sioux Lookout, saying there is no criminal liability on the part of arresting officers.
The incident took place on Nov. 29, 2019 when officers with the Ontario Provincial Police Sioux Lookout detachment responded to reports of an altercation at a local Tim Hortons.
A man was arrested at the scene and transported to the detachment. It was reported the man fell twice from the bed to the ground and stated several days later he had suffered a jaw injury.
According to Joseph Martino, director of the SIU, investigators obtained video recordings from the Tim Hortons and from the detachment.
“Based on the information derived from these preliminary inquiries, it is evident that there is patently nothing to investigate as far as the potential criminal liability of any police officer is concerned in relation to the man’s reported injury,” Martino said in a media release issued Friday.
Martino added that it appears the man’s injury was most likely sustained earlier at the Tim Hortons during the altercation with another individual before police were present.
“If, on the other hand, the man was injured while in custody, there is nothing in the cell video recording to suggest any untoward conduct or want of care on the part of the police,” Martino said.
“Rather, the injury is likely to have been self-inflicted in the course of one or the other of the man’s falls, or both, captured by the recording. In either event, as I am satisfied at this time that there is no question of criminal liability on the part of a police officer in connection with the man’s injury, the investigation is hereby discontinued, and the file is closed.”
The SIU is called in to investigate anytime there is a death, serious injury, or allegation of sexual assault involving police.
