WINDSOR, ONT. -- The Ontario Special Investigations Unit has determined a man’s injuries sustained while in Windsor police custody were self-inflicted — terminating the investigation.
The SIU says a 59-year-old man was arrested by police for public intoxication in the early morning hours of Aug. 23, 2020. Around 4:40 a.m., while handcuffed and shackled in a cell, the man was captured on video hitting his leg shackle against a post at the base of the cell bench.
The man was diagnosed with a fractured ankle days after he was in custody.
“Based on the SIU’s inquiries to date, it is apparent at this time that there is patently nothing to investigate as far as the potential criminal liability of any police officer is concerned vis-a-vis the man’s injury,” SIU director Joseph Martino said in a news release. “There are no questions raised with the lawfulness of his arrest. Though clearly intoxicated and belligerent, there was no indication in the custody video that the man was physically injured on his arrival at the station.”
The SIU says Windsor police were made aware of the injury in October and notified the SIU launching the investigation.
Martino says the investigation was continued and closed as there is “clear indication” the man’s fractured ankle was self-inflicted and there is no question of any “want of care on part of police” during the man’s time in custody on record.
The SIU is a government agency that investigates the conduct of officers that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault, or the discharge of a firearm at a person. All investigations conducted by SIU investigators are civilians.
