Human trafficking suspect breaks ribs, cops in Burlington cleared of wrongdoing

The Ontario agency that investigates police-involved incidents has cleared Halton police officers of any wrongdoing in a case going back more than two years in Burlington.

According to the findings of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), officers did not violate any laws when a suspect arrested for human trafficking broke his ribs while being apprehended.

The incident happened in May of 2022 when plainclothes officers tried to arrest a man at a Lakeshore Road hotel. At the time police said the man went to the hotel for what he thought was a meeting with an underage person to obtain sex.

Undercover officers were on the scene and the man tried to run off but was quickly apprehended and handcuffed.

The SIU report indicates that several days later the man was diagnosed with fractured ribs. The SIU wasn’t notified of the incident until January of this year when the matter was brought up in court.

In making his ruling, SIU Director Joseph Martino determined the man was lawfully arrested and that nothing more than lawful force was used.

“It remains unclear when precisely the injury to the complainant’s rib or ribs was incurred. Given the passage of time between the arrest and diagnosis, it is possible the injury post-dated his run-in with the police,” Martino said in his ruling. “Be that as it may, as there are no reasonable grounds to believe that HRPS (Halton Regional Police Service) officers comported themselves other than lawfully in their dealings with the complainant, there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case. The file is closed.”