The province’s police watchdog has cleared three London officers of any criminal wrongdoing after a man ended up with ruptured spleen during his arrest.
According to the Special Investigations Unit, on August 18 police responded to a call about a stolen vehicle.
A 47-year-old man had stolen it and rammed it into a cruiser while trying to flee.
During his arrest, officers forced the man out of the car and onto the roadway.
The man resisted his arrest while on the ground, refusing to give up his arms, and was punched twice in the left hip area by one officer and struck with knee strikes by another officer on his thighs and torso.
“The man was taken to the station and then to hospital where medical assessment did not reveal the presence of any serious injury,” a release from the SIU read. “Still not feeling well the next morning, the man again attended hospital. He was then diagnosed with a ruptured spleen, which was surgically removed.”
Director Martino said he accepted that the force brought to bear was commensurate with the exigencies of the situation.
He concluded there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the subject officials comported themselves other than lawfully in their dealings with the man, leaving no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case.
