'Net was cast too widely': Judge rules police violated man's rights
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2026 3:25 am
SAULT STE. MARIE - An Ontario judge has found that police officers in the Sault breached the Charter rights of a Toronto man when they arrested and detained him in January 2023.
In her decision, Justice Tracey Nieckarz ruled that members of Sault Ste. Marie Police Service and Sault Ste. Marie OPP unlawfully arrested Isaiah Broomfield — along with two other men wanted in connection with a double shooting in Thunder Bay — before conducting a search and taking him into custody.
At the time of their arrests, police believed the double shooting was linked to drug trafficking activity.
In her 10-page written decision, Nieckarz found that evidence retrieved from Broomfield by police, including body armour and a gun, was a violation of his Charter rights.
“While the gun and other evidence seized from the applicant upon his arrest suggested that the applicant was up to no good, this after-the-fact evidence cannot justify the arrest for attempted murder and being an accessory,” Nieckarz wrote.
“Guilt by association was the only basis for the arrest with respect to those charges.”
Broomfield was 20 years old when he was charged with assisting in the escape of Kayshan Robertson and Jaden Bowen, who were both charged with attempted murder in connection with a shooting that took place in the 200 block of Ambrose Street on Jan. 17, 2023.
All three males boarded an Ontario Northland bus bound for Toronto following the double shooting, which left both victims injured.
Police in Thunder Bay contacted Sault police and provided descriptions of the three males they were looking for in connection with the shootings.
Sault police then worked with Ontario Provincial Police to have an undercover officer board the bus in order to make observations.
The bus was stopped and swarmed by police in Heyden, and all occupants were asked to get off.
After the incident, SooToday received this reader-submitted video that showed officers swarming the bus in the parking lot of a gas station in Heyden.
A gun, ammunition, body armour, a knife and Canadian currency were located when police searched Broomfield.
He was then transported to the Sault, where he claimed he wasn’t provided with an opportunity to speak with counsel for nine hours.
The Crown eventually withdrew all charges against Broomfield, including several firearm-related offences, in July 2025.
In her decision, Nieckarz accepted Broomfield’s Charter application argument that there were no reasonable grounds for his arrest — adding that there was nothing to connect the Black male to the shooting besides the colour of his skin, and the fact he was travelling with the two shooting suspects.
The judge also found that there was nothing more than suspicion that Broomfield “may be a bad character” based on his affiliation with the two shooting suspects.
“In this case, the net was cast too widely,” Nieckarz wrote.
“Even a Black male riding the bus that was not under any suspicion was placed against the bus with those who were.”
Nieckarz ruled that items found by officers during their unlawful search of Broomfield should be excluded as evidence.
In December 2025, Bowen pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and had all other charges withdrawn.
Robertson’s case, meanwhile, is still before the courts.
- with files from TBnewswatch
https://www.villagereport.ca/village-pi ... s-11932348
https://www.sootoday.com/city-police-be ... s-11930387
In her decision, Justice Tracey Nieckarz ruled that members of Sault Ste. Marie Police Service and Sault Ste. Marie OPP unlawfully arrested Isaiah Broomfield — along with two other men wanted in connection with a double shooting in Thunder Bay — before conducting a search and taking him into custody.
At the time of their arrests, police believed the double shooting was linked to drug trafficking activity.
In her 10-page written decision, Nieckarz found that evidence retrieved from Broomfield by police, including body armour and a gun, was a violation of his Charter rights.
“While the gun and other evidence seized from the applicant upon his arrest suggested that the applicant was up to no good, this after-the-fact evidence cannot justify the arrest for attempted murder and being an accessory,” Nieckarz wrote.
“Guilt by association was the only basis for the arrest with respect to those charges.”
Broomfield was 20 years old when he was charged with assisting in the escape of Kayshan Robertson and Jaden Bowen, who were both charged with attempted murder in connection with a shooting that took place in the 200 block of Ambrose Street on Jan. 17, 2023.
All three males boarded an Ontario Northland bus bound for Toronto following the double shooting, which left both victims injured.
Police in Thunder Bay contacted Sault police and provided descriptions of the three males they were looking for in connection with the shootings.
Sault police then worked with Ontario Provincial Police to have an undercover officer board the bus in order to make observations.
The bus was stopped and swarmed by police in Heyden, and all occupants were asked to get off.
After the incident, SooToday received this reader-submitted video that showed officers swarming the bus in the parking lot of a gas station in Heyden.
A gun, ammunition, body armour, a knife and Canadian currency were located when police searched Broomfield.
He was then transported to the Sault, where he claimed he wasn’t provided with an opportunity to speak with counsel for nine hours.
The Crown eventually withdrew all charges against Broomfield, including several firearm-related offences, in July 2025.
In her decision, Nieckarz accepted Broomfield’s Charter application argument that there were no reasonable grounds for his arrest — adding that there was nothing to connect the Black male to the shooting besides the colour of his skin, and the fact he was travelling with the two shooting suspects.
The judge also found that there was nothing more than suspicion that Broomfield “may be a bad character” based on his affiliation with the two shooting suspects.
“In this case, the net was cast too widely,” Nieckarz wrote.
“Even a Black male riding the bus that was not under any suspicion was placed against the bus with those who were.”
Nieckarz ruled that items found by officers during their unlawful search of Broomfield should be excluded as evidence.
In December 2025, Bowen pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and had all other charges withdrawn.
Robertson’s case, meanwhile, is still before the courts.
- with files from TBnewswatch
https://www.villagereport.ca/village-pi ... s-11932348
https://www.sootoday.com/city-police-be ... s-11930387