THUNDER BAY — Michael Dimini could be heard saying “truth” after a charge of assault against the Thunder Bay Police Service officer was dismissed on Thursday afternoon.
Dimini, a sergeant with the city’s police service, was charged in 2023 by the OPP with two counts of assault, one count of breach of trust and one count of obstruction of justice.
This week, a trial was held at the Thunder Bay Courthouse for one of the assault charges, which stems from an incident that took place on Aug. 9, 2014, outside of what was then a Target store at Intercity Shopping Centre.
A woman was injured while being arrested in the parking lot.
Dimini was on duty in uniform on the day of the incident and had been alerted by two Target security officers to a woman they suspected of shoplifting.
Dimini approached a van the woman had entered and asked the driver, a separate male individual, about shoplifting.
The judge noted the trial happened more than 10 years after the incident and no one who testified was questioned about the incident until 2022.
The judge said the female complainant admitted during her testimony she was yelling at Dimini while he attempted to speak to the driver and she was obstructing Dimini’s attempts to get information.
Dimini had ample reason to believe she was obstructing the investigation and the Crown failed to prove her arrest was unlawful, said the judge.
The judge also said the complainant was described as combative by three people and Dimini’s notes described her as waving and flailing her arms while he tried to arrest her.
The woman was thrown to the ground but the judge said it does not correlate to an overly violent arrest and her behaviour may have made throwing her down necessary.
The judge dismissed the charge and said Dimini was free to leave the courtroom.
Dimini will next stand trial in late April for a second assault charge related to a 2016 incident and then again in late May of this year for the breach and obstruction charges.
Those charges have yet to be tested in court.
Dimini is on leave from the Thunder Bay Police Service as per the Police Services Act.
This story has been updated with more information.
