The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, found no reasonable grounds to believe an Ontario Provincial Police officer or a Sault Ste. Marie Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the medical episode suffered by a 29-year-old man while in custody last September.
On September 15, 2023, the man was arrested in Echo Bay and took him into custody on an outstanding arrest warrant. During a search, baggies of drugs were confiscated. Another container appeared to be inside the man’s anus. Paramedics were called to take the man to hospital. In hospital, the man retrieved drugs from his person and ingested cocaine. He went into medical distress and was admitted to the ICU.
“as there are no reasonable grounds to conclude that either subject official transgressed the limits of care prescribed by the criminal law in their dealings with the Complainant, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges. The file is closed.” reads a release from SIU
