HAMILTON — Ontario’s police watchdog has closed its investigation into a Hamilton arrest that left a 44-year-old man with a fractured nose and possible concussion, finding no reasonable grounds to believe an officer committed a criminal offence.

The Special Investigations Unit said the incident began on the evening of June 20 after witnesses reported a man smashing the window of a parked Hamilton Police Service cruiser near 499 King Street East and briefly entering the vehicle.

According to the SIU director’s report, the first officer to locate the man chased him and ordered him to get on the ground. When he did not comply, she forced him down. The report says the officer delivered knee strikes and another officer used punches and knee strikes while officers worked to control his arms.

Crowbar was mistaken for a knife

The SIU said the man was holding a crowbar that the first officer mistook for a knife. Body-worn camera footage summarized in the report showed officers finding the crowbar underneath him after he was handcuffed. The report says no further force was used after his arms were secured.

The man was taken to Hamilton General Hospital. Medical information cited by the SIU recorded a fractured nasal bone and a concussion; the public news release described the latter as a possible concussion.

Director says arrest and force were legally justified

SIU Director Joseph Martino concluded the officer had lawful grounds to arrest the man for mischief and was entitled to take him to the ground after he did not follow the direction to lower himself. Martino also found the strikes could not reasonably be characterized as unwarranted while officers believed the man had a knife and were trying to prevent him from using a weapon.

The finding is a decision about whether there were reasonable grounds for a criminal charge against the officer. It is not a court judgment, and the public report does not identify the affected man or the officers.

The SIU’s news release was issued October 15. The director’s report is dated October 14 and says the investigation reviewed civilian and police interviews, body-worn camera footage, business-surveillance video, police communications and medical records.

Sources

Lead image: Hamilton Police Service Ford Police Interceptor on patrol, photographed by Hamilton Police Service and published via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Illustrative file photograph; it does not depict the June arrest.