A Barrie police officer did not commit a crime by kicking a man in the head and fracturing his cheekbone during an incident last fall, according to the province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU).
On Nov. 16, 2024, shortly before 2:30 p.m., police learned persons of interest in a stabbing were in a ridesharing vehicle near St. Vincent and Rose streets in Barrie. Two men, one of whom was carrying a handgun, fled on foot when police attempted a traffic stop, according to the SIU report.
An officer pursued one of the men, who ended up hiding in a bush. When he began to crawl out in response to another officer’s command, the other officer kicked him in the head, dropped his weight into him and handcuffed him.
That 30-year-old suspect was not the one who was carrying a gun. However, SIU director Joseph Martino “found that although the officer ended up chasing the male who he did not observe with the gun, the mistake was reasonable in the fraught circumstances of the moment,” the report stated.
“With respect to the force used, director Martino found the evidence fell short of reasonably establishing it was excessive as the officer’s line of sight was obstructed by the bush and he had only seconds to react. Further, the officer explained in his SIU interview that neither officer could be sure whether the firearm was still on the man’s person," the report added.
The man was taken to Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, where he was diagnosed with a fractured zygomatic bone.
The entire report can be found here.
