Police watchdog clears Kingston, Ont. officers after vehicle theft suspect punched, tasered

The logo of the Ontario Special Investigations Unit is pictured in Toronto on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press)

Ontario’s police watchdog agency says three Kingston police officers did not commit a crime when they struck a suspect several times and shot him with a Taser in February.

According to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the incident began at around noon on Feb. 17. A woman called police to report a family member had stolen her vehicle. Police attempted to arrest the 36-year-old suspect at a home near Henderson Boulevard and Bayridge Drive.

The SIU says the suspect was “under the heavy influence of cocaine” and had attempted to take the officers’ weapons.

“The officers punched the man’s head and torso multiple times, and used their conducted energy weapons (CEWs). Additional officers arrived, and an officer delivered several hand strikes before officers were able to handcuff the man,” the SIU said in a news release Friday.

“The man was taken to hospital and eventually diagnosed with a brain bleed.”

The SIU concluded, however, that the officers’ use of force was not excessive, given the circumstances.

“There is no doubt that significant force was used by the officers – upwards of ten punches and multiple CEW deployments. That force, however, was proportionate to the nature and extent of the Complainant’s resistance. Despite being outmanned and repeatedly tasered, he was able to prevent [the officers] from handcuffing his arms,” the report into the incident says. “Of particular note were the efforts by the Complainant to dispossess the officers of their CEWs and firearms. At that point, the risk to the officers increased exponentially, entitling them to escalate their use of force to prevent that risk from materializing.”

The file was closed with no charges to the officers involved.