No charges will be laid against any Chatham-Kent (CK) police officers following an investigation into the arrest of a man in Wallaceburg.
After a lengthy investigation, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ontario's police watchdog, said there were no reasonable grounds to believe that any officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the man’s arrest and serious injury.
A 65-year-old man was found with a serious self-inflicted cut on his neck in Wallaceburg during his arrest following a standoff on October 11.
The SIU noted the officers did not cause or contribute to the man's injury.
"The police made reasonable efforts to resolve the situation peacefully through negotiations," said SIU Director Joseph Martino. "After negotiations had been given a fair opportunity to work, upwards of ten hours, and with statements coming from the complainant suggesting the standoff would only end with his death, [officers] fairly concluded that a more proactive posture was in order."
The director added that the man may not be alive today if the officers didn't take evasive action.
"The forced entry that ensued into the complainant’s bedroom might have been the catalyst for his stabbing himself in the neck. On the other hand, the use of the [Tasers] and the officers’ surge into the bedroom did prevent the complainant inflicting fatal injury and may have saved his life," Martino noted.
The SIU reported CK police responded to a report of intimate partner violence with a woman screaming in a backyard in Wallaceburg and found the complainant barricaded inside a bedroom with knives and a crossbow threatening to kill himself.
Nearly 13 hours later, officers entered the home and discovered the man with his neck cut by a knife.
The man cut the artery in his neck and was taken to the hospital, the SIU noted.
When CK police arrived, the SIU said the female victim told officers that the man had assaulted and confined her at the address.
According to the SIU, body-worn camera footage showed the man and the woman slurring their words.
The footage showed the man telling police that the woman was not welcome to return to the home, while the woman said he had recently used drugs and assaulted her in the backyard.
The SIU noted the case is now closed.
