SIU clears Cornwall police officer who broke man’s hand during arrest

An undated photo of an Ontario SIU forensic vehicle. (FIle Photo/CTV News)

Ontario’s police watchdog has cleared a Cornwall police officer of wrongdoing after kneeling on a man’s back and breaking his hand during an arrest in February.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says police officers were executing a search warrant at a home in the area of McConnell Avenue and Montreal Road in Cornwall on Feb. 20, looking for cocaine and fentanyl.

A 45-year-old man was inside the home and attempted to hide from police in the bathroom, the SIU said. An officer pinned the man to the floor and lowered his knee into the man’s back, the force of which fractured his hand, which was under his chest at the time.

The SIU said the officer intended to lower himself to the man’s side but was dealing with cramped quarters.

“The takedown was accomplished with minimal force and made sense. The officer was entitled to deal with a legitimate safety issue by placing the Complainant on the floor where he could be more easily controlled,” SIU Director Joseph Martino wrote in a decision published Thursday.

“The only other force exerted on the Complainant was the SO’s knee to the back. The evidence, however, points to that force being unintentional, a regrettable but understandable accident by an officer operating in tight quarters in a dynamic situation.”

According to the SIU, the man was treated at the hospital for his injured hand and returned to police custody. A short time later, he complained of chest pains, returned to the hospital, and then fled. Police later found him in a home and brought him back to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a fractured left hand.

The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.

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