The province's police watchdog has cleared a London police officer of any wrongdoing after a police dog caused serious injuries to a suspect during an arrest last fall.
Police were called about a break and enter at the Hydro One facility at 935 Power Street before 2 a.m. on November 18. A security guard had reported two men illegally entered the site and had begun pulling up cable.
An officer with the police canine unit arrived with his service dog and began tracking the suspects in a thick bushy area nearby. The officer released the dog's leash to give the animal greater freedom of movement. Within moments of doing so, yelling was heard. The officer quickly located the dog, which had latched onto the head of one of the suspects. The suspect, a 55-year-old man, was punching the dog. He was instructed to stop before the officer kicked him in the midsection. The dog released its hold of the man once the officer took hold of the man's right hand.
However, while handcuffing the suspect, the police dog bit the man's left hand. The dog released his grip once police took hold of the hand.
The man was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with multiple puncture wounds to the left hand and lacerations to the back and right sides of the head. He received 29 stitches to his head.
The Special Investigations Unit was contacted due to the severity of the man's injuries. Four investigators were assigned to the case. They interviewed the officer responsible for the police dog, as well as reviewed police communications and surveillance images from the Hydro One facility.
"In the circumstances, it made sense to deploy a police dog to assist in the search, particularly as it was dark out and the search would involve areas of brush," SIU Director Joseph Martino said in his final report. "It also made sense to let the dog loose when the [subject officer] did knowing, as the officer did, that the police service dog was trained to bite and hold the [man] if he found him."
Martino added that police had reason to believe the suspects had a knife or sharp tool as they found insulated rubber that had been stripped from copper wire at the site.
"With the risk of a weapon being brought to bear, it was reasonable for the officer to first distract and detain the [man] with a dog before physically engaging with him," said Martino.
He also found reason to believe the police dog, which is trained only to bite moving limbs, may have bitten the man's head due to his attack on the animal.
"The fact that the [man] seems to have punched the dog even after being told to refrain by the [officer] is perhaps some reason why the dog acted as it did. Beyond that, allowance must be made for the possibility that sentient creatures may not always conform with their training in dynamic situations," said Martino.
He concluded that there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the man's arrest and injuries.
