The director of the province's police watchdog has cleared a Sarnia officer of any wrongdoing, after a man's arm was broken during an arrest.
According to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Sarnia police officers attempted to arrest a man while he was riding on a bicycle in the area of Talfourd Road and Elsfield Crescent during the evening of August 5, 2021. The man was wanted by police on an existing warrant on charges of break-and-enter and assault with a weapon.
When officers attempted to arrest the man, he tried to flee on his bike. One of the officers swung his baton to try and stop him, during which time he struck the man in the elbow, causing him to fall to the ground, where he continued to struggle against the officers.
The man was eventually placed under arrest and lodged in the cells at police headquarters. He was later taken to hospital to be treated for his injury.
SIU Director Joseph Martino announced Friday that there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges against the officer who struck the man.
"The [suspect] was pedalling as fast as he could away from the [officer] at the time and might well have made good his escape if the [officer] had not intervened in the fashion he did," Martino wrote in his analysis. "While it is regrettable that the [man] suffered a fractured arm in the process, I am unable to reasonably conclude that some lesser use of force would have been more proportionate and less apt to cause injury."
The investigation is now closed.
