Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has cleared Windsor police of wrongdoing after a man suffered an injury to his face during an arrest.
The incident took place on October 29, 2019 in the parking lot of the Home Depot on Tecumseh Street East. Officers from the Windsor police had a vehicle under surveillance that was suspected to be stolen.
When the driver, a 40-year-old man, parked the vehicle in the lot, officers tried to box the vehicle in to keep it from being driven away. The driver then began moving the vehicle back and forth, hitting police vehicles in front and in the back while officers yelled at him to stop.
One of the officers, in an effort to subdue the driver, broke the glass of the driver's side window and hit the man in the head a few times. Police were then able to handcuff the man and the man was treated by EMS at the scene for what turned out to be a broken orbital bone.
Two of the man's companions were also arrested. One was in the passenger seat of the vehicle, the other had been in the store while the incident was taking place.
SIU Director Joseph Martino concluded in the report released Thursday that there was no evidence that the officers' efforts to subdue the suspect were excessive, and there are no reasonable grounds to lay charges.
