The province's police watchdog has concluded there are no reasonable grounds to believe Waterloo regional police acted unlawfully in connection with injuries sustained by a Kitchener man accused of attempting to steal a puppy last August.
The 25-year-old later tried to hang himself with his underwear while in a holding cell and suffered an injury to his nose and fractures to his spine.
Special Investigations Unit director Joseph Martino closed the file last month after determining there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges against police.
Martino's report details what happened before and after police made contact with the man on Aug. 30, 2024 at a property near Ottawa Street North and King Street East in Kitchener.
Police were called to the address for multiple assaults at the property involving the complainant.
The man had received a trespass notice and was barred from being at the property on the day he was arrested.
Surveillance camera footage and witness accounts at the residence detail an altercation that afternoon involving the man and three females who attempted to get a puppy out of his hands.
Several individuals became involved in the melee, delivering "haymaker-style punches" in at attempt to stop the man.
Police and paramedics arrived after getting a call about the incident 30 minutes later and "struggled to control the complainant."
Officers were able to get the man on his knees before he staggered to the ground and landed face down. He got up again and tried to flee before police captured and handcuffed him.
After being taken to Kitchener's central division headquarters, the man was uncooperative with a police sergeant who asked if he'd attempted to harm himself. "Multiple times," he replied.
He said he'd consumed non-prescribed drugs and didn't complain about injuries at that time.
The interactions were recorded on camera.
He was taken to a holding cell where he "climbed the toilet and washed both feet individually in the sink. He stretched, sat in various positions, and breathed heavily. He appeared in physical discomfort, which gradually increased in intensity."
About 30 minutes later he removed his underpants, soaked them in water, and unsuccessfully tried to cover the cell camera.
About an hour later he asked for a paramedic but refused to explain why. He then laid on his back, which seemed to alleviate his discomfort and audibly cursed WRPS officers for what he thought was illegal detention.
The next morning he was awoken and escorted from his cell to a holding room, handcuffed. He asked to speak to a sergeant, requested a paramedic multiple times and refused to return to his cell.
Constables "semi-dragged him through the corridor on his knees and he became verbally abusive."
After returning to his cell he asked again to speak to a sergeant and complained of a "pinching in my back and it keeps shooting up my [f-ing] spine since yesterday.”
Minutes later he yelled for EMS to be called. He continually verbally abused WRPS officers, threatened self-harm, and yelled profanities.
Soon after that, surveillance footage shows the man tearing his underpants into a long strip and constricting it around his throat.
He looped an end around his left wrist, looked at the camera and appeared to strangle himself with one hand. After falling he yelled “Help, I’m bleeding from my nose!”
He was told EMS was on their way as he waited on the bench in the cell.
He continued his profanity and verbal abuse, and threatened to choke himself with his shorts.
Paramedics got him on a gurney and he was transported to Grand River Hospital soon after.
At the hospital he became agitated, resulting in officers and guards needing to hold him down and get him in arm and leg restraints. After his assessment was complete several hours later, he resisted being taken back into custody and was uncooperative getting into the police cruiser to be transported back to his cell.
The man was diagnosed with fractures of the lower back.
Martino's report says it remains unclear whether the man's injuries were incurred in the altercation with police or some of the residents prior to police arrival.
"Be that as it may, there are no reasonable grounds to believe they are attributable to unlawful conduct on the part of the arresting officers. As such, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case. The file is closed," he wrote.
