Two Guelph police officers have been cleared by the province's Special Investigations Unit of any wrongdoing in an incident that saw a 42-year-old male suffer a fractured orbital bone as he was being arrested.
On Oct. 17, 2021, at 2 a.m. police were called to the Royal Hotel on Carden Street about a domestic assault complaint.
Two units responded. Three officers headed to a fourth floor room where the alleged assault victim, a woman, let them in.
The male was arrested and as he was being led down the stairs spit in the face of one of the arresting officers.
The male was then taken to the floor by the officers.
The hotel's security cameras captured the incident.
The complainant "chose not to participate in the investigation," reads the SIU report.
At the police station, facial injuries were noted and the male was taken to hospital where it was diagnosed he had a fractured right orbital bone.
"Given what the officers knew via information they were provided on dispatch to the scene, and what they ascertained directly after speaking with the female occupant of the room, there were sufficient grounds to take the Complainant into custody for assault. Once in lawful custody, the officers were entitled to take reasonable steps to control the Complainant’s movements to ensure his safety as well as their own," says the SIU report completed by SIU director Joseph Martino.
"I am further satisfied that the force used by the officers in the stairwell, namely, a takedown, was legally justified. Whether intentional or the inadvertent result of his agitation, a bellicose Complainant repeatedly spat in SO #2’s direction and was told to stop doing so. When the Complainant continued with his behaviour and spat in SO #2’s face, the officers were entitled to resort to a measure of force to prevent the continuation of what was, in effect, an assault by the Complainant.
"A takedown in these circumstances would appear to have been a rational and proportionate response to the situation at hand as it would immediately neutralize the Complainant without the need for strikes of any nature or the use of weapons."
