Ontario's police oversight agency has determined there are no grounds on which to charge a London police officer after a woman suffered a fractured elbow during an arrest.
The Special Investigations Unit launched an investigation after the incident on January 21, 2019. According to the SIU's report, police responded to a report from the 52-year-old woman's family about concerns for her welfare. The woman had emailed members of her family and suggested she was going to take her own life, which prompted them to call 911. When police arrived at her home around 8:20 p.m., they were let in by a friend of the woman, who had a garage door opener. Police then used a key provided by a family member to unlock the door of a bedroom where the woman had placed a bench that was blocking the door. After pushing past the bench, an officer found the woman on the floor near the bed.
"In very short order, the officer found himself engaged in a struggle with the Complainant who reacted violently to being roused by the officer," the SIU report said. "The SO (subject officer) was able to subdue the Complainant on the bedroom floor while he called for and then waited for the WO’s (witness officer) arrival to assist in her custody."
The woman was arrested for assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. She was taken to hospital, where she was diagnosed with a fractured elbow.
"In the final analysis, while there is little doubt that the SO caused the Complainant’s injury in the course of their struggle, I do not have reasonable grounds to believe that the injury occurred as the result of any criminal conduct on the part of the officer. Accordingly, this file is closed," interim director of the SIU Joseph Martino said in the report.
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.
