SIU clears Thunder Bay police of wrongdoing after man seriously injured in police custody

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has cleared a Thunder Bay police officer of any wrongdoing after a man was seriously injured in police custody in the fall.

The SIU says a 42-year-old man was arrested on Oct. 4, 2024, following a call about a suspicious person. He was arrested without incident on two outstanding warrants, and brought to the Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) headquarters.

There, the man — who was not handcuffed — fell off a metal bench in the booking room. He "was coming down after ingesting fentanyl several hours prior," says the SIU report, released Friday.

Later, after complaining of pain in his left shoulder, emergency medical services were called. The man was transported to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, where he was diagnosed with a broken left clavicle, and then remanded to the Thunder Bay Jail, the SIU said.

SIU director Joseph Martino determined "there were no reasonable grounds to believe that an officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the man's arrest and injury," the SIU said.

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