Police cleared of wrongdoing following Mississauga incident

The agency that investigates complaints against police has cleared Peel officers over an incident where a man suffered a broken arm.

An investigation by the Special Investigation Unit has determined that police did not commit a criminal offence in connection with the man’s arrest and injury that occurred in May of this year.

The incident unfolded when the man called 911 for assistance after experiencing an episode of psychosis at his Mississauga apartment.

Paramedics also arrived at the scene but when they attempted to place the man on a stretcher, he resisted.

“An officer grabbed his left arm causing it to snap,” according to the SIU investigative report.

The man was subsequently handcuffed to the back by officers, placed on the ambulance stretcher, and transported to Credit Valley Hospital where he was admitted for a mental health assessment.

It was at the hospital that the arm fracture was found.

The injured man eventually filed a complaint about the ordeal.

In his ruling, SIU Director Joseph Martino determined the officers were within their rights to arrest the man because of his mental disorder and that he was unable to care for himself.

Also, although the man was not assaultive towards the officers, Martino said he did physically resist efforts to secure him and that the fracture occurred in the “toing and froing” that took place with the left arm before it was handcuffed with the right arm.

“That injury, however, was not the result of any excessive force brought to bear by the SO (suspect officers), but the unfortunate consequence of countervailing forces being brought to bear in a dynamic situation. No strikes of any kind were delivered, ” Martino said.