OPP officers cleared in Manitoulin incident
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2022 4:49 pm
Man injured during arrest for alleged trespassing on cottage land
Reasonable actions were taken by OPP officers in arresting an alleged trespasser on Manitoulin, the province’s police watchdog has concluded.
The 56-year-old man, from Mindemoya, injured his left leg during the course of the arrest, and subsequently required reconstructive surgery for a fracture, the Special Investigations Unit said in a report.
The incident occurred back on July 17, when two officers were called to a property on Lake Mindemoya by residents who complained of the man’s presence near a cottage driveway.
The man had previously disagreed with a property owner over access to a shoreline, the SIU noted, and had been charged with trespassing on several occasions, although these charges were withdrawn.
On this occasion he was confronted by a woman and her brother, who asked him to leave. The man refused, “believing he had a lawful right to be on the land,” the SIU said.
The OPP officers arrived at the address at around noon. “They spoke with members of the family and then approached (the man), asking him to vacate the property,” according to the report.
At the time, the man was on a treed incline that climbed toward the cottage property from the shoreline of Lake Mindemoya, and remained reluctant to leave, “believing that he had every right to be where he was,” the SIU said.
When the officers advised him he was under arrest and attempted to handcuff him, the man resisted.
“He continued to resist on the ground after he had been taken down by one of the officers,” the SIU said.
In short order, however, the officers were able to subdue the man, take control of his arms, and secure him in handcuffs.
The man complained of injury while being escorted to a cruiser and was taken from the scene to hospital.
Joseph Martino, director of the SIU, said in a report issued Dec. 31 that he could find no fault with the officers’ response.
“On my assessment of the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that either of the subject officials committed a criminal offence in connection with the complainant’s arrest and injury,” he stated. “Accordingly, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case.”
He noted police officers are immune from criminal liability “for force used in the course of their duties, provided such force was reasonably necessary.”
In this case, there was no doubt the man resisted arrest, Martino concluded.
“At issue is whether he was subjected to excessive force when, while prone on the ground, he was kicked or kneed by one of the officers,” he said. “If believed, this might give rise to criminal liability on the part of one or the other subject official. However, I am unable to conclude that there is sufficiently cogent evidence to this effect to warrant charges.”
While the man reported he had “great difficulty bearing weight on his knee” after it was allegedly struck, Martino noted “none of the witnesses present at the time was able to corroborate that evidence.”
The officers themselves said no kick was delivered to the man while he was on the ground.
Rather, they “reported simply using their greater manpower to wrestle control of (his) arms before handcuffing them behind his back,” the report states.
Physical intervention seems to have been warranted in the circumstance, Martino noted.
“In light of the fact that the (man) struggled against the officers’ efforts to handcuff him while on the ground for between two and five minutes, I am unable to reasonably conclude that a knee or a kick was necessarily excessive in the circumstances, even if it did cause the injury in question.”
The SIU is required to investigate any incident involving police that results in a death or significant injury.
https://www.thesudburystar.com/news/loc ... n-incident
Reasonable actions were taken by OPP officers in arresting an alleged trespasser on Manitoulin, the province’s police watchdog has concluded.
The 56-year-old man, from Mindemoya, injured his left leg during the course of the arrest, and subsequently required reconstructive surgery for a fracture, the Special Investigations Unit said in a report.
The incident occurred back on July 17, when two officers were called to a property on Lake Mindemoya by residents who complained of the man’s presence near a cottage driveway.
The man had previously disagreed with a property owner over access to a shoreline, the SIU noted, and had been charged with trespassing on several occasions, although these charges were withdrawn.
On this occasion he was confronted by a woman and her brother, who asked him to leave. The man refused, “believing he had a lawful right to be on the land,” the SIU said.
The OPP officers arrived at the address at around noon. “They spoke with members of the family and then approached (the man), asking him to vacate the property,” according to the report.
At the time, the man was on a treed incline that climbed toward the cottage property from the shoreline of Lake Mindemoya, and remained reluctant to leave, “believing that he had every right to be where he was,” the SIU said.
When the officers advised him he was under arrest and attempted to handcuff him, the man resisted.
“He continued to resist on the ground after he had been taken down by one of the officers,” the SIU said.
In short order, however, the officers were able to subdue the man, take control of his arms, and secure him in handcuffs.
The man complained of injury while being escorted to a cruiser and was taken from the scene to hospital.
Joseph Martino, director of the SIU, said in a report issued Dec. 31 that he could find no fault with the officers’ response.
“On my assessment of the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that either of the subject officials committed a criminal offence in connection with the complainant’s arrest and injury,” he stated. “Accordingly, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case.”
He noted police officers are immune from criminal liability “for force used in the course of their duties, provided such force was reasonably necessary.”
In this case, there was no doubt the man resisted arrest, Martino concluded.
“At issue is whether he was subjected to excessive force when, while prone on the ground, he was kicked or kneed by one of the officers,” he said. “If believed, this might give rise to criminal liability on the part of one or the other subject official. However, I am unable to conclude that there is sufficiently cogent evidence to this effect to warrant charges.”
While the man reported he had “great difficulty bearing weight on his knee” after it was allegedly struck, Martino noted “none of the witnesses present at the time was able to corroborate that evidence.”
The officers themselves said no kick was delivered to the man while he was on the ground.
Rather, they “reported simply using their greater manpower to wrestle control of (his) arms before handcuffing them behind his back,” the report states.
Physical intervention seems to have been warranted in the circumstance, Martino noted.
“In light of the fact that the (man) struggled against the officers’ efforts to handcuff him while on the ground for between two and five minutes, I am unable to reasonably conclude that a knee or a kick was necessarily excessive in the circumstances, even if it did cause the injury in question.”
The SIU is required to investigate any incident involving police that results in a death or significant injury.
https://www.thesudburystar.com/news/loc ... n-incident