MIDDLESEX CENTRE, ONT. -- Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has found no criminal offence was committed in connection with an arrest by St. Thomas police that left a man with injuries.
St. Thomas officers and a police service dog responded to a 911 call on the morning of May 24 from a citizen reporting they'd been threatened by a man with a hatchet.
The suspect fled through backyards, and was eventually spotted riding a bike into a wooded area near the former Alma College and set up a perimeter.
The man was located but refused to follow demands to get on the ground and the police dog was engaged to push the suspect to the ground.
At that point officers attempted to arrest the man, but he refused to bring his hands out from under him and was struck once before police were able to handcuff him.
The 56-year-old man suffered puncture wounds from the dog bites that required five stitches and two hairline rib fractures in the incident. He was treated in hospital for his injuries.
Following an investigation, the SIU says "there are no reasonable grounds to believe that an officer committed a criminal offence" in this case.
