SIU clears Woodstock police officer who broke man’s orbital bone during arrest

A Woodstock police cruiser is seen in a file photo. (Colton Wiens/CTV Kitchener)

Ontario’s police watchdog says it found no reasonable grounds to lay charges against a Woodstock police officer who tackled a man from behind during an arrest, breaking one of the bones in his face.

The March 14 incident happened just before midnight near the Woodstock Museum.

Around 11 p.m., a security guard called police to report a man had thrown a stick at him after being told to leave the museum grounds, the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) said in a report released Tuesday.

The 36-year-old had been sleeping on a bench in the area.

The SIU said two officers arrived on scene within minutes and found the man in a parking lot behind Fanshawe College. They attempted to speak with him, but the man became angry.

When the officers got out of the vehicle and drew their Tasers, the man challenged them to shoot him with their real firearms instead, the SIU said.

More officers arrived on scene and the man began to advance toward one of them.

Two officers fired Tasers at the man, but the weapons had no effect, the SIU said.

When a third officer fired a Taser, the man yelled that he missed and continued advancing.

That’s when another officer, who also on scene, ran up behind the man and tackled him to the ground.

The man was handcuffed and taken to hospital by paramedics where he was diagnosed with a fractured left orbital bone.

In his analysis, SIU Director Joseph Martino said it was clear the officer who tackled the man did so to stop him from assaulting the officer he was advancing toward.

Martino also said he was satisfied the takedown was legally justified, as other efforts to immobilize the man had failed.

“While it is unfortunate that the complainant suffered a fractured orbital bone in the process of being tackled by the subject officer, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the injury is attributable to unlawful conduct on the part of the officer,” Martino said.

The SIU has closed the case.