The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has concluded that no grounds for charges were found against police who responded to a September 2023 incident.
According to a report released Friday evening, a 41-year-old man arrived by ambulance to the emergency department at South Huron Hospital in Exeter on the evening of September 15. Hospital staff notified the OPP after the man entered a washroom and refused to come out.
After officers arrived and failed to talk the man out, they forced entry and found the man embedded in the ceiling. After about three hours of negotiating with the man and attempting to get him to come down, the man eventually did so. Police then took him into custody, and the man was diagnosed with fractured ribs and sepsis.
After the man was admitted for treatment and placed on a 72-hour form under the Ontario Mental Health Act, the OPP contacted the SIU, which invoked its mandate.
SIU Director Joseph Martino concluded in the report that officers acted accordingly.
"It remains unclear when and how the Complainant was injured," wrote Martino. "There is evidence to suggest his rib fractures likely occurred as he initially scaled into the ceiling. Be that as it may, as I am unable to reasonably conclude that any of the ERT officers comported themselves other than within the limits of the criminal law, there is no basis for proceeding with charges in this case. The file is closed."
