Sault officer cleared in death during 2021 arrest

WARNING: Graphic content may be upsetting to some audiences.

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit has wrapped up a case involving a 30-year-old man who died of a self-inflicted stab wound during an arrest in Sault Ste. Marie in January 2021.

The officer at the centre of the investigation has been found not criminally responsible for the suspect's death by the provincial watchdog, SIU director Joseph Martino said in a news release Monday.

Sault Ste. Marie police were called to an apartment complex on Albert Street East around 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23, 2021, about an aggressive man with a knife that refused to leave the lobby.

When officers arrived, the suspect kept his right hand inside his coat pocket and declined to remove it after repeated requests, saying his arm was broken, the release said. He told the cops he was trying to get to a local shelter.

The suspect was under probation for assaulting a peace officer and was not allowed to have knives, Martino's report said.

When his possession of a knife became evident, an officer told him he was under arrest, but the suspect didn't surrender.

"Efforts to persuade the man to disarm himself and show his right hand were to no avail. At some point, three officers deployed their conducted energy weapons at the man," the SIU said.

"As the man fell to the ground, his right hand came out of his pocket holding a knife, which he used to cut across the front of his neck."

The officers were able to get the man under control after a struggle and performed first aid on the suspect, Martino said.

He was taken to hospital by paramedics where he was pronounced dead.

The SIU investigates cases of serious injury, death, shooting or sexual assault allegations involving police.

This case involved four civilian and eight official witnesses.

Read the full report here.