No charges against CCPS after suspect injured while in custody

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By Nick Seebruch
No charges against CCPS after suspect injured while in custody
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CORNWALL, Ontario – The Ontario Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the independent agency that investigates incidents involving police officers in Ontario, have found no reasonable grounds to lay charges against the Cornwall Community Police Service (CCPS) or one of its officers after a suspect was injured while in their custody.

On April 21, 2018, CCPS officers were called to a domestic incident just south of Cornwall Ctr. Rd. One 23-year-old male, identified as the ex-husband in the domestic incident, was arrested by CCPS after allegedly attending his ex’s residence and causing mischief to the property.

The male was handcuffed and placed in a CCPS vehicle. Upon arriving at the police station, the man, who is the Complainant in this case, refused to exit the vehicle. One witnessing officer, referred to in the SIU report as WO#1 physically removed the Complainant from the vehicle and moved him to the booking room in the station.

In the booking room, the Complainant was uncuffed and WO#1 left the room. The suspect officer, referred to in the report as SO#1 attempted to question and book the Complainant, who refused to answer questions and became combative. According to the SIU report, the Complainant raised his arms, at which time SO#1 put the Complainant in a headlock and both fell to the floor. The SIU report states that it appears that SO#1 delivered one or more blows to the Complainant while they were on the ground.

Hearing the commotion, WO#1 returned the booking room and helped SO#1 handcuff the Complainant and put him in a jail cell.

After being put in a cell, a CCTV camera caught footage of the Complainant banging his head against the wall.

The Complainant was taken to hospital for examination and it was found that he had a fracture on the left side of his nose, which was not treated as doctors believed it would heal without intervention.

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