The province’s Special Investigations Unit has closed its probe into the arrest of a 30-year-old man in Flesherton last year, determining officers acted lawfully in their dealings with the man.
An incident narrative prepared by the SIU says on the morning of Oct. 5, 2020, the 30-year-old was an occupant in a black Volkswagen involved motor vehicle collision at Concession Road 3 and Sideroad 35.
The Volkswagen apparently entered the intersection against a stop sign, striking a van travelling north.
The SIU report says “realizing police would soon be at the scene” the man fled to a wooded area east of the crash, aware of outstanding warrants for his arrest.
Three other occupants in the Volkswagen also left the scene.
According to the SIU, OPP officers were dispatched to the intersection and made aware people from the Volkswagen involved had fled.
An OPP canine unit and a team of Emergency Response Team officers were deployed to assist the search efforts.
Just after 2 p.m. that afternoon, the police dog located the 30-year-old man hiding behind a cedar tree close to the roadway.
“He was handcuffed, placed in a police vehicle and taken to the OPP detachment,” the SIU report explains.
The man was later transferred to the custody of Hanover Police on an outstanding warrant. On Oct. 6, Hanover Police contacted the SIU to report a male in their custody had been diagnosed with a fractured left foot.
The SIU report says there is evidence of the Emergency Response Team officers may have pushed the man’s left foot to the ground when he was lying prone and unable to do so because of a pre-existing foot injury.
“There is no reason to believe that the officer, whomever might have pushed the complainant, was aware of the injury,” SIU Director Joseph Martino says. “In the circumstances, I am unable to fault the officer for forcing the complainant’s foot down to the ground when the complainant failed to do so himself.”
The SIU says it’s clear the man’s fractured left foot was sustained days before his arrest, but unclear whether the injury was aggravated in the course of his detention by police.
“Be that as it may, as I am unable to reasonably conclude that any of the subject officers acted other than lawfully in their dealings with the complainant, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges and the file is closed,” Martino’s report concludes.