THUNDER BAY – The director of the Special Investigations Unit found there were no grounds to charge a Thunder Bay Police Service officer who tackled a fleeing suspect, which resulted in him suffering a broken collarbone.
The SIU issued a report on Thursday saying the officer acted lawfully within the execution of his duties.
The investigation was launched following an incident on the city’s north side on the evening of Dec. 6, 2023.
The complainant was wanted on a bench warrant and was located walking in the Court Street North area.
When officers stopped and told the complainant he was under arrest, he fled on foot, with the subject officer in pursuit.
The subject officer tackled him and the two fell to the ground, with the officer sliding over the complainant’s body.
The complainant was placed under arrest and handcuffed. Shortly after he complained of a pain in his shoulder and he was transported to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre where he was diagnosed with a fractured right clavicle.
The incident was captured by the body camera of the subject officer and witness officers.
“On my assessment of the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the [subject officer] committed a criminal offence in connection with the complainant’s arrest and injury,” said SIU director Joseph Martino in the report.
“There was a warrant in effect authorizing the complainant’s arrest and the officers were within their rights in seeking to take him into custody on that basis.”
Martino added the subject officer used no more force than was necessary in conducting the arrest on a suspect who was attempting to flee.
“[The complainant] was also known to the officers from prior encounters with the police to be violent and carry a firearm. On this record, it made sense to forcibly take the complainant to the ground as the [subject officer] did,” Martino said.
“Doing so would bring the complainant’s flight to an end while positioning the officers to better manage any further resistance from the complainant and restrict his access to a possible weapon on his person.”
Martino concluded that the complainant did suffer a fractured clavicle when he was taken to the ground by the officer, but his injury was not due to any unlawful conduct by the officer.
