SIU clears Peel officers in 2019 Taser death

Ontario’s police watchdog has cleared two Peel police officers of wrongdoing in the Sept. 10, 2019, case of a 34-year-old M ississauga man who died after he was Tasered at a Malton home.

According to a Friday news release, Special Investigations Unit director Joseph Martino determined “there are no reasonable grounds to believe that any officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the man’s death.”

The man, who has not been named by police or the SIU, died after he was Tasered during an interaction with police after two officers went to the home following multiple calls from family members inside.

“Soon after arriving, officers became involved in an interaction with a 34-year-old and shortly after apprehended him,” the SIU report of the incident said.

The man was taken to hospital and was pronounced dead soon after arrival.

Following an autopsy, a pathologist determined the Tasering likely “did not play a major role, if any,” in the man’s death.

The pathologist found his cause of death to be from “excited delirium (cocaine and ethanol toxicity) during restraint,” saying “the cumulative effects of agitation and struggles, position with impaired respiratory movements and cocaine likely all contributed to cause sudden cardiac arrest.”