A Chatham-Kent police officer has been cleared by Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) following the arrest of a 42-year-old man who allegedly pointed a gun at his estranged partner and tried to run from police.
The SIU was called in to investigate after a 42-year-old man suffered an injury during an arrest on March 15.
Chatham-Kent police were dispatched to a residence in Chatham about a domestic dispute, shortly after 1 a.m. on March 15. The 42-year-old, who was under a probation order to not attend the residence, confronted his ex-girlfriend in her backyard, according to an SIU report.
He allegedly threatened her and pointed a handgun at the garage door, which separated the two.
The accused left before police arrived at the scene and was later found leaving his home, at which point, the man reportedly tried to get away from police on a bicycle. He eventually stopped on Edgar Street with his hands up.
After walking the 42-year-old to the police cruiser, the subject officer -- who declined to take part in an SIU interview -- "held him front-first against the passenger side" while another officer conducted a search. The accused was then handcuffed and put in the back seat of the SUV cruiser.
At the police station, the 42-year-old complained of an injury. He was later diagnosed with a fractured hand and a possible concussion at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.
The SIU conducted various interviews and viewed interview recordings as part of the investigation, according to the report.
While in police custody, the 42-year-old admitted he smoked marijuana and methamphetamine “pretty much all day” prior to the incident on March 15.
Chatham-Kent police recovered the firearm, which turned out to be a replica handgun, at an address on Park Avenue West.
"In the final analysis, while the injury the Complainant (the 42-year-old man) sustained is some corroboration of the force that incriminatory evidence suggests was used against him, it falls just short, in my view, of justifying charges, in this case, considering the significant frailties associated with the incriminatory evidence, the weight of the countervailing evidence, and the possibility of the fracture having been inflicted sometime prior to his interaction with the police," read an analysis from the SIU Director, Joseph Martino.
"More reliable evidence indicates that [the] complainant was intoxicated by drugs during his confrontation with police and that his intoxication rendered a concussion diagnosis uncertain. This casts doubt on the credibility and reliability of the incriminating evidence," read the report.
As a result, the SIU director ruled there were "no reasonable grounds to believe that the subject officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the complainant’s arrest and injuries."
The case into the matter was officially closed on September 14.
