PUBLIC ASSISTANCE
Cornwall, ON -The Cornwall Community Police Service are currently seeking the public’s assistance in relation to 2 break and enters that occurred at the Cornwall Court House, 29 Second Street West. At approximately 11:30 pm on the 30th of September, 2013 and 9:30 pm on the 1st of October 2013 someone entered the building by way of breaking the glass door. Once inside the person(s) riffled through some offices then left the building.
The Cornwall Community Police Service is requesting that anyone with any information regarding this incident, please contact the Cornwall Community Police Service at 613-933-5000 extension 2418 or Crime Stoppers at 613-937-8477.
WARRANT, BREACHES
Cornwall, ON – A 22-year-old Cornwall man was arrested on the 2nd of October, 2013 on the strength of a warrant. It is alleged that during the month of July, 2013 the man communicated with his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend and drove his vehicle despite being bound by an Undertaking with conditions to have no contact with her or to drive a motor vehicle. Police were contacted and an investigation ensued. During their investigation police could not locate the man and a warrant was requested. On the 2nd of October, 2013 the man attended police headquarters to deal with the matter. He was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. His name was not released as it might identify the victim in the incident.
ASSAULT
Cornwall, ON – A 17-year-old Cornwall youth was arrested on the 2nd of October, 2013 and charged with Assault. It is alleged that on the 29th of September, 2013 the youth was involved in a verbal argument with his 18-year-old roommate when he put his hands around her neck and later struck her in the stomach with his elbow. Police were contacted and an investigation ensued. On the 2nd of October, 2013 during their investigation the police attended the youth`s residence, took the youth into custody and charged him accordingly. He was later released with a future court date. His name was not released as per provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
ASSAULT
Cornwall, ON – A 29 year old Cornwall woman was arrested on October 1, 2013. She is currently bound be an Undertaking with the relevant condition to keep the peace and be of good behaviour. It is alleged that earlier this date she engaged in a verbal argument with her 49 year old mother which escalated into her punching her mother in the face. Police were contacted and an investigation was conducted. The 29 year old woman was charged with Assault and Breach of Undertaking. She was released to appear in court on October 29, 2013. Her name is not being released in order to protect the identity of the victim.
BREACH
Cornwall, ON – Nathan Coleman, age 26, of Ottawa, Ontario was arrested on October 1, 2013. He is bound by an Undertaking with the relevant condition to abstain from the consumption of alcohol and other intoxicating substances. It is alleged that he was under the influence of alcohol at a residence in Cornwall on this date when police attended for an unrelated matter. He was charged with Breach of Undertaking. He was released to appear in court on November 5, 2013.
SIU
SIU Concludes Hamilton Firearms Death Investigation
Case Number: 13-OFD-129
Other News Releases Related to Case 13-OFD-129
Appeals Form
Mississauga (2 October, 2013) — The Director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ian Scott, has concluded that there are no reasonable grounds to charge any Hamilton Police Service officer with a criminal offence in relation to the shooting death of 45-year-old Mladen (Steve) Mesic in June of 2013.
The SIU assigned seven investigators and four forensic investigators to probe the circumstances of this incident. Two witness officers and 22 civilian witnesses were interviewed. Both subject officers provided the SIU with a copy of their duty notes and both consented to be interviewed by the SIU.
The length of this investigation was necessitated by the important forensic testing conducted by the Centre of Forensic Sciences, including examinations of Mr. Mesic’s DNA and the firearms used in the incident, which was completed in the last few weeks.
The SIU investigation found that the following events took place on Friday, June 7, 2013:
• At approximately 9:15 a.m., one of the subject officers was dispatched to the Lincoln Alexander Parkway (‘Linc’) near Upper Wentworth Street to investigate a call that a man, later determined to be Mr. Mesic, was walking into traffic. The officer located Mr. Mesic and parked his marked cruiser in front of him. Mr. Mesic turned and began walking southbound. The officer exited his cruiser, walked toward Mr. Mesic and asked him to come back so that he could talk to him. Mr. Mesic continued to walk away from the subject officer. The officer returned to his cruiser and backed it up to the Upper Wentworth Street exit. He pulled up beside Mr. Mesic and tried to have a conversation with him. Mr. Mesic largely ignored the officer and continued walking toward Upper Wentworth Street. The officer was concerned for his wellbeing and followed him on foot.
• The second subject officer arrived to assist. The officers temporarily lost sight of Mr. Mesic.
• The two subject officers were deciding what to do when they heard banging sounds coming from the back door of a residence. The subject officers ran towards the sound. When they arrived at a chain link fence, they saw Mr. Mesic on the other side of the fence, attempting to pry open the rear sliding door of a townhouse at 1146 Upper Wentworth Street using a garden shovel with a square head. The vegetation of the area where the officers were now standing consisted of low lying bush and damp uncut grass and weeds varying in height from fifteen centimetres to two metres.
• One of the subject officers yelled at Mr. Mesic, asking, ‘What are you doing?” Mr. Mesic turned his attention toward the subject officers and walked toward them in an aggressive manner causing both officers to unholster their firearms. Mr. Mesic attempted to climb the chain link fence with the shovel in his hand. Both officers yelled at Mr. Mesic to “Drop the shovel and get down from the fence”.
• Mr. Mesic stopped trying to climb the fence, took a couple of steps east along the fence line and began pulling at the bottom of the fence. The fence at this spot had some clearance at the bottom and was loose enough that it could be easily pulled up. One of the officers considered transitioning to his pepper spray, but abandoned that idea when he realized that Mr. Mesic was now on their side of the fence. Mr. Mesic was holding the shovel with both hands like a baseball bat over his right shoulder. The distance between the closest officer and Mr. Mesic was three to four metres. The officers yelled at Mr. Mesic to drop the shovel. Instead, Mr. Mesic advanced towards the officers. When Mr. Mesic was approximately two metres away from the officers, and within a distance where he could swing the shovel and hit one of them, both officers discharged their firearms. Mr. Mesic collapsed and died shortly thereafter.
• A subsequent port-mortem report concluded Mr. Mesic died of multiple gunshot wounds.
There were a number of points that the two subject officers did not know when they became involved with Mr. Mesic. They did not know that earlier that morning, Mr. Mesic walked in front of a bus on the Jolley Cut and was struck by that bus in an apparent attempt to commit suicide. Further, they did not know that he darted out in front of a motor vehicle on the Linc, causing that car to veer to its left to avoid a collision. Finally, the subject officers did not know that Mr. Mesic lived at 1146 Upper Wentworth Street, the house they thought he was attempting to break into with the shovel.
DNA analysis confirmed that Mr. Mesic’s DNA was found on the shovel located at the scene. Further, a civilian witness in one of the connecting townhouses heard someone, presumably one of the subject officers, yell to someone to put down the shovel.
Forensic analysis related to the firearms, cartridge cases and bullets concluded that each subject officer discharged his weapon multiple times, and that at least one bullet from each of the officers’ handguns struck Mr. Mesic. In other words, both subject officers were responsible for the use of lethal force against Mr. Mesic.
Director Scott said, “In my view, the subject officers were justified in their use of lethal force in these circumstances. By the time Mr. Mesic was on the same side of the fence as the subject officers, the option of pepper spray was not feasible due to the imminent threat Mr. Mesic represented to the two subject officers. Because neither officer had a conducted energy weapon on his person, this use of force option was not available to them. Further, the officers could not easily disengage due to the rough terrain and the short distance between themselves and Mr. Mesic. The officers were confronted by an aggressive individual holding a shovel in a baseball stance who was not responding to multiple commands to drop the weapon and was continuing to advance towards them. Both officers held their fire until Mr. Mesic was within striking distance of one of the officers. It was only when there appeared to be no reasonable alternative that both officers discharged their firearms. Accordingly, while Mr. Mesic’s death is a tragic event and the subject officers were responsible for his demise, I lack the reasonable grounds to believe that they can be held criminally liable for this use of lethal force.”
The SIU is an arm’s length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault. Under the Police Services Act, the Director of the SIU must
- consider whether an officer has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation
- depending on the evidence, lay a criminal charge against the officer if appropriate or close the file without any charges being laid
- report the results of any investigations to the Attorney General.
SIU Investigating Vehicle Death in Ottawa
Case Number: 13-OVD-239
Appeals Form
Mississauga (2 October, 2013) — Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is probing the circumstances surrounding a fatal vehicle collision in Ottawa early this morning.
Preliminary information indicates the following:
• At approximately 4 a.m. on Wednesday, October 2, 2013, an Ottawa Police Service officer traveling eastbound on Laurier Avenue noticed a vehicle driving westbound;
• The officer decided to follow the vehicle;
• A short time later, at the intersection of Bank Street and Laurier Avenue, the vehicle being followed was involved in a collision with another vehicle. An occupant of this second vehicle was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The SIU has assigned four investigators, two forensic investigators and one collision reconstructionist to probe the circumstances of this incident.
Anyone who may have information regarding this case is asked to contact the lead investigator at 416-622-2293 or 1-800-787-8529 ext. 2293.
SIU Closes Investigation into Injuries Sustained by Man in Toronto
Case Number: 13-TCI-236
Mississauga (1 October, 2013) — Based on the Special Investigations Unit’s (SIU) initial enquiries into the injuries sustained by a 28-year-old male in Toronto last week, SIU Director Ian Scott has terminated the investigation. The incident involved officers with the Toronto Police Service.
The SIU investigation determined that at approximately 7:30 p.m. on September 24, 2013, officers responded to a shooting in which one person sustained injuries. Two individuals fled in a vehicle but police eventually apprehended the driver. While the officers dealt with the driver, the passenger in the vehicle managed to drive away. A short time later, officers found the vehicle – it had collided with a utility pole. Police conducted a search of the area and eventually found a suspect. A physical interaction ensued between the man and the police. This interaction was captured on video. Because the man had lost consciousness for a short time, he was taken to St. Michael’s Hospital as a precaution.
Medical reports obtained by the SIU revealed no evidence of serious injury. Given the Unit’s mandate, which is limited to serious injuries and deaths that may have resulted from criminal offences committed by police officers, the SIU has discontinued its investigation.
