Toronto police officer charged with assault after man seriously injured last summer: SIU
Video showed man hitting head on pavement after being pushed by plainclothes officer
A Toronto police officer has been charged with aggravated assault following a police watchdog investigation into an incident last summer, where a bystander was seriously injured while police were making an arrest.
The incident happened on Aug. 3, 2024 around 7 p.m. in a laneway near the corner of Dundas and Victoria streets downtown, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said in an email.
The 33-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
A video of the arrest published online by CityNews showed a group of plainclothes officers trying to subdue a person while several bystanders watch from a short distance away.
One of the bystanders eventually approaches one of the officers and puts his hand on their shoulders, before two of the officers show the man and appear to be yelling at him to move away.
Shortly after, another plainclothes officer is seen pushing that man, who then falls to the ground and appears to hit his head on the pavement.
As a result of the SIU investigation into the incident, Det. Const. Christian Campoli has been charged with one count of aggravated assault, the police watchdog said in a news release Friday.
Campoli is set to appear in court on March 18 in the Ontario Court of Justice.