SIU Investigation: Police force ‘reasonable’ in death of St. Catharines man

A Special Investigations Unit (SIU) investigation has found two Niagara Regional Police officers did not commit a criminal offence in connection with the death of a 57-year-old man in St. Catharines after he was arrested.

The man died in hospital on May 7, 2023, just days after the arrest. He had lapsed into medical crisis late on May 3, 2024, from which he never recovered.

“In the instant case, the question is whether there was any want of care on the part of the (police officers), sufficiently serious to attract criminal sanction, that endangered the Complainant’s life or caused his death. In my view, there was not,” said Joseph Martino, SIU Director, in his judgement.

“For the reasons noted above, the force used by the officers was reasonable in the circumstances.”

Niagara Regional Police were contacted by a female on May 3, 2023 asking them to remove her boyfriend and his friend from her residence near Pelham Road and Glendale Avenue.

“The relationship between (the woman) and the (boyfriend) had been deteriorating due to the (boyfriend’s) increased drug use,” said the evidence revealed in the case.

The woman returned home to find her boyfriend and the other male “consuming” an unknown quantity of illicit drugs. When police arrive at 11:46 p.m., the boyfriend was “acting irrationally” and was asked to leave.

The boyfriend went to the front yard and began causing a disturbance, before police attempted to arrest him for breaching the peace.

As the (boyfriend) was being handcuffed, a struggle ensued, and he was grounded, read the evidence.

At 11:54 p.m., the (boyfriend) was observed to go unconscious. Officers initiated CPR and administered four doses of Narcan. At 12:04 a.m., the (boyfriend) was transported by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to the Niagara Health – St. Catharines Site located at 1200 Fourth Avenue, St. Catharines.

At the time SIU was notified, the boyfriend was assessed at the hospital and was breathing on his own. He was placed on a ventilator and was in critical condition.

“When the (boyfriend) made it difficult to handcuff his hands by pushing at the officers and adopting an aggressive posture, it made sense to force him to the ground,” said Martino. “In that position, the officers would be in a better position to manage any continuing resistance on the part of the (boyfriend).”

On May 7, 2023, the boyfriend was pronounced deceased at hospital. The pathologist at autopsy concluded that his death was attributable to “acute toxicity of cocaine in a man with an enlarged heart.”

The evidence, writes Martino in his judgement, falls short of any reasonable suggestion that the force brought to bear by both officers in aid of the boyfriend’s arrest was unlawful.

“On my assessment of the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that either subject official committed a criminal offence in connection with the (boyfriend’s) death,” said Martino.

“Pursuant to section 25(1) of the Criminal Code, police officers are immune from criminal liability for force used in the course of their duties provided such force was reasonably necessary in the execution of an act that they were required or authorized to do by law.”