Police watchdog rules police botched investigation
Former officer attacked last summer after report of threat not pursued
An independent police watchdog agency has overruled a Niagara Regional Police decision to downplay a botched investigation that resulted in a former police officer being viciously beaten in the front yard of his Welland home last summer.
Earlier this year, the NRP responded to the findings of the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD), describing the agency’s findings of misconduct and insubordination against Const. Elyse Giosi as “less serious” in nature and stated the matter would be dealt with informally.
But Dean Rudge — who was beaten by a man with a baseball bat in August after police took no action when the same man threatened to kill him two months earlier — disagreed.
Rudge said he called police on June 23 after a man who identified himself as Paul Paparoni stood in front of his home yelling repeatedly he was going to kill him.
On Aug. 20, Paparoni returned to Rudge’s home with a baseball bat and attacked him, hitting him repeatedly until Rudge finally managed to subdue the attacker. Paparoni was arrested and charged with assault.
After reviewing the NRP decision regarding the case, independent police review director Stephen Leach sided with Rudge.
“I am varying the decision of the chief,” Leach wrote in an April 27 letter to Chief Bryan MacCulloch. “I find the misconduct to be of a serious nature and I am directing that a disciplinary hearing be held.”
In an interview, Rudge said the attempt by the NRP to classify the incident as “less serious” would allow it to be dealt with in house and essentially just sweep it under the carpet and make it disappear. Now that it’s of a serious nature, the rules of engagement have changed.”
In his letter, Leach also noted Rudge and his “family have been physically, emotionally and financially affected from the incident.”
And although Giosi felt she did not have reasonable grounds to charge Paparoni following Rudge’s June 23 complaint, Leach said the OIPRD investigation found that Paparoni’s previous conviction after a similar incident two years earlier “should have alerted Const. Giosi to assume a more aggressive stance in her investigation.”
“Const. Giosi’s failure to arrest Mr. Paparoni after the incident was followed by a vicious attack on the complainant. Additionally, Const. Giosi failed to consider Mr. Paparoni’s recent similar behaviour in assessing whether he ought to be further investigated and she failed to take steps to confirm or refute information provided to her,” Leach wrote. “Const. Giosi also deleted an email message notifying her of a voice mail from the complainant, which she did not listen to and where the substance of which was important.”
NRP spokesperson Stephanie Sabourin said police would not comment.
“At this time, as the matter will now go before the Police Services Act Tribunal, it would be inappropriate to comment further so as not to interfere with that process,” she said.
Rudge was convicted in 2013 of breach of trust, for providing confidential information to the Hells Angels during a police investigation in 2004, although he continues to deny the crime.
But as a result of that conviction that ended his career as a police officer, Rudge felt the police response to the incident was biased.
Leach said his investigation did not support that.
“My review of the investigation did not reveal any evidence to support the concern that the investigation or investigative report was partial or biased in anyway,” he wrote. Rudge, however, was impressed with the actions of OIPRD — especially in the midst of a global pandemic.
“I was quite taken back,” he said. “Somebody’s stepping up and doing the right thing here. I just figured it was going to get swept and nobody was going to do anything.”