No grounds to charge Hamilton police in arrest injury: SIU

Ontario’s police watchdog says there are no grounds to charge any Hamilton police officers in connection with the injury of 30-year-old man in an arrest more than two years ago.

The man suffered fractured ribs during his arrest early Feb. 17, 2016, the Special Investigations Unit said.

He drove a rental car into a small unlit lot when a police officer attempted a traffic stop just after 12:30 a.m. But the man got out of the car and ran f through an alley, the SIU report says.

The officer gave chase and called for backup, before catching up with the man, who tried to punch him. The man kept running and the officer tried to use a Taser twice, but it didn’t work properly.

The officer eventually tackled the man from behind, but he kept struggling, so he used pepper spray and punched him once.

Other officers arrived on scene and the man was eventually handcuffed. Police found a small scale with cocaine residue and more than $2,000 cash on the man. Marijuana was in the rental car, the SIU said.

The man was charged with assaulting a peace officer, resisting arrest and possession of cocaine residue, but those charges were later withdrawn.

He complained of rib pain in custody, and a fracture was diagnosed on March 3, 2016. The case wasn’t brought to the SIU until a year later.

“In these circumstances and given the complainant’s ongoing resistance, I cannot conclude that the force used by the involved officers was unreasonable or more than necessary to effect the arrest,” SIU director Tony Loparco concluded.