Ontario Special Investigations Unit Interim Director Joseph Martino has terminated the investigation into an injury sustained by a 54-year-old man last month in North Bay while police officers were on the scene.
Martino has ruled North Bay Police Service officers “did not cause or contribute” to a local man’s injuries resulting from him jumping out a second-floor window.
On the night of June 26, a 911 telephone call was made to the North Bay Police Service, but the caller hung up. Prior to disconnection, the 911 dispatcher heard screaming in the background and officers were sent to the residence.
On arrival at the Main Street West address, officers heard what sounded to be a domestic dispute taking place inside the second-floor apartment.
The police officers knocked on the apartment door, but it was not answered. As the officers kicked open the apartment door, the man jumped out of his bedroom window to the ground below.
Martino reported, “Based on the SIU’s preliminary inquiries, it is apparent that the man jumped of his own volition as officers entered the residence. While the officers’ presence prompted the man’s drastic recourse, they were lawfully inside the residence to ensure the well-being of its residents…As it is evident that the officers neither caused nor contributed to the man’s injury in any fashion that could attract criminal liability, there is patently nothing further to investigate, and the file is closed.”
The SIU is a civilian law enforcement agency, independent of the police, that conducts criminal investigations into circumstances involving police and civilians that have resulted in serious injury, death or allegations of sexual assault. In the course of its investigations, the Unit gathers and assesses evidence, and the Director of the SIU decides whether or not the evidence leads to the reasonable belief that a criminal offence has been committed. If the Director forms such a belief, she or he shall lay a criminal charge against the officer(s), and that charge will then be prosecuted by the Crown Attorney. If the Director does not form such a belief, she or he cannot lay a criminal charge against the officer(s).
