Two Timmins Police officers have been cleared after a man suffered a broken collarbone during an arrest earlier this year.
Special Investigations Unit direct Joseph Martino released his report on the incident yesterday and said there are no reasonable grounds to believe either officer involved committed a criminal offence.
The SIU is an arms-length agency that investigates police-involved incidents where there has been a death, serious injury, allegations of sexual assault, or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
Martino's report describes the incident that happened on July 8, 2021, at 7:45 p.m.
Police received a 911 call about a theft from Your Independent Grocer and the description of two suspects — a man and a woman — were provided.
The female was arrested and the man, a 26-year-old, fled westward on foot and ran into the basement of a Toke Street residence.
"Not wanting to follow the Complainant into the residence in the event he was armed, the officers set up a perimeter around the house and waited.
"It was not long after that the Complainant exited the home and ran southward through some hedges onto James Avenue," reads the report.
The man ran toward one of the officers, who grabbed one of his arms, but he broke free. A second or two later, the suspect was tackled from behind by another officer. The man fell to the ground and, according to the report, refused to release his arms from underneath him.
Martino's report says an officer struck the man's upper body, after which police were able to free his arms and put the man in handcuffs just before 8:10 p.m.
At the police station, the man arrested complained of shoulder pain.
"He was taken to hospital and diagnosed with a fractured right collarbone," said the report.
The director's analysis of the incident notes that in the Criminal Code, police are "immune from criminal liability for force used in the course of their duties provided such force was reasonably necessary in the execution of an act that they were required or authorized to do by law."
"Based on the description of the male party suspected of having participated in the theft of items from the grocery store, there is no evidence casting doubt on the lawfulness of the Complainant’s arrest for that crime. Moreover, at the time of the events in question, there were multiple warrants out for the Complainant’s arrest on other charges," reads the report.
Martino wrote that he's unable to "reasonably conclude" the force used by officers was excessive and unnecessary.
"When the Complainant emerged from the home on Toke Street and fled from the officers in the area, it was clear that he had no intention of surrendering peacefully to his arrest. In the circumstances, the tackle from behind was a rational and reasonable use of force if the Complainant was going to be stopped and apprehended. Thereafter, when the Complainant refused to release his arms from underneath his torso and otherwise resisted the officers’ efforts to take him into custody by kicking out his legs and thrashing his body, the officers were entitled to resort to a measure of force to subdue him and deter any further aggression," he wrote.
"In the result, while I accept that the force used against the Complainant resulted in his fractured collarbone, most likely, the takedown, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that either subject official comported himself other than lawfully throughout the incident. Accordingly, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case."
