SIU clears Toronto officer who pushed rider off e-bike

Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has found no reasonable grounds to charge a Toronto police officer who pushed a man off a moving e-bike in a July 5 arrest that left the man with a broken nose, wrist and ankle, according to a director’s report released Oct. 30.

SIU Director Joseph Martino wrote in the report on Case 26-TCI-311 that the push was legally justified under section 25(1) of the Criminal Code, which protects officers who use only as much force as is necessary in carrying out their duties. The 48-year-old man was not named. The file is closed.

The Toronto Police Service contacted the SIU at 11:20 a.m. on July 5, the report said. Officers had been called about 4 a.m. over a stolen e-bike that its owner had tracked with an AirTag to the area of Major Street and Barbara Goddard Lane. The owner told 911 he had been threatened by a person who appeared to be holding a gun.

Police located the rider on Borden Street, north of College Street, and ordered him to stop, the report said. Martino wrote that the man refused several commands. Two officers got out of a cruiser, drew their firearms and stood on the sidewalk. The rider lost control of the bike and crashed into recycling bins after the subject official pushed him in the right shoulder, Martino concluded.

No firearm was found. The man was carrying a hand drill and a crowbar, according to the report. He was taken to Toronto Western Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a fractured nose, right wrist and left ankle.

Martino wrote that pushing a rider off a bike travelling at an estimated 40 km/h “certainly came with risks, some of which materialized in the fractures.” He said that, given the reported gun, arresting the man quickly was imperative for public safety, and that he could not reasonably conclude the push was disproportionate or unnecessary.

Body-worn camera footage did not capture a clear view of what caused the fall, the report said, but showed the rider losing control near the officers. The man’s complaints of injury began immediately after the crash. He was interviewed by the SIU on July 6. The subject official was interviewed on July 17 but declined to submit his notes, which is his legal right. Two witness officials were interviewed and provided their notes.

The SIU investigates incidents involving police that result in death, serious injury, gunfire or allegations of sexual assault. The director can lay a charge only if there are reasonable grounds to believe a crime was committed. Reports are posted publicly except in some sexual-assault cases. The Toronto Police Service had not published a statement on the findings in the SIU material reviewed for this story.

The decision is another in a run of recent SIU closures. Earlier this month the unit cleared a Greater Sudbury officer over a fractured rib and, on Oct. 31, cleared an Ottawa officer who shot a man during a hostage-taking. See also our report on a man who fell from a garage rail in Ottawa.

If you find reporting like this useful, consider supporting Canada News Media, an independent Canadian newsroom with no corporate parent.