The province's police watchdog has deemed a St. Thomas police officer's use of force during the arrest of a man, found hiding in the crawl space of a his estranged common-law partner’s home last year, "reasonably necessary."
The 36-year-old Oakville man suffered a fractured rib during a struggle with officers at a St. Thomas home on August 28, 2018. At the time the man was wanted for several offences including assault with a weapon, assault, uttering threats, choking, and breaking and entering related to an incident at the same residence the previous day.
Police were called to the home, which had been converted into apartments after someone spotted a man breaking in.
The man was quickly found in a crawl space that sits several feet above the basement floor. After being pulled out of the space, the man began to struggle with officers as they tried to handcuff him. Officers punched the man in the right side and kneed him in the torso during the arrest. He was taken to hospital where it was determined he had a broken rib.
The Special Investigation's Unit (SIU) was notified about the man's injuries and began investigating about a week later.
"Officers were in confined quarters and aware of the [the man's] potential for violence; they did not have the luxury of time and could reasonably conclude in the heat of the moment that they were dealing with a wholly recalcitrant individual," Interim SIU Director Joseph Martino said in his report. "On this record, a single knee strike and punch, delivered by the subject officer and witness officer, respectively, strike me as falling within the range of what was reasonably necessary in the circumstances to secure the [man's] arms in handcuffs."
Martino concluded by stating that he was "satisfied" that the force used by officers was legally justified.
"There are no grounds to proceed with criminal charges in this case and the file is closed," said Martino.
The SIU is an arm’s length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
