The province’s police watchdog has ended its investigation into an incident last fall that left a man with a severed ear after he was taken down by a London police canine.
According to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), at around 8 a.m. on November 3, 2022, London police responded to a home near Wellington and Horton streets for a call about a break and enter.
A woman had contacted police claiming the suspect was her estranged partner, and she was concerned for her safety. The accused took off in a vehicle before police arrived, the SIU said.
Officers were provided with a description of the SUV the man had driven off in, and police continued their efforts to track down the suspect. The man was located several times, however, police aborted efforts to pursue him after he reportedly evaded officers’ attempts to stop him.
The man was then located outside the parked SUV near Exeter and Wellington roads when he reportedly ran from the scene. Police say he scaled a fence that led him into a townhome complex at 92 Stroud Crescent. The accused continued to flee, climbing another fence into a different townhome complex on 100 Stroud Crescent.
Police caught up with the man a short time later after he was tracked down by a pair of officers, including one handling a police dog. The officer handling the canine told the man not to run or he would release the dog. The accused ignored the officer’s demand and took off leading the officer to release the police canine.
The dog quickly caught up with the man and he was taken to the ground and bit several times, the SIU said. The man suffered injuries to his buttocks, his left upper arm and wrist, and most notably, his left ear, most of which had been ripped off by the canine.
When the officer that was handling the dog arrived, the dog’s grip on the man was removed and he was taken into police custody. After his arrest, paramedics arrived to take him to hospital.
Following an investigation, SIU Director Joseph Martino determined the officer handling the canine did not break the law in connection with the use of the dog.
“Certainly, any time a police dog is deployed in these types of circumstances, there is potential for injury to the subject. As I understand it, police dogs are trained to bark and hold when a subject stops their flight and effectively surrenders. Where that does not happen, a police dog is expected to bite and hold pending the arrival of the dog handler,” read a statement from Martino.
Martino noted that there was a claim put forward in the investigation stating the man did not resist the dog’s efforts during the take down. He stated that evidence was contested to an extent by police evidence, adding that it does not meet the threshold of criminal negligence.
“While it is highly regrettable that the [man] was injured in the way he was by the police service dog, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the [officer] comported himself other than lawfully throughout their engagement,” Martino’s report continued.
The file into the matter is closed.
