Northern Ont. police cleared in case of woman who was high on drugs bitten by police dog

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit have cleared the Ontario Provincial Police in the case of a woman who crashed her vehicle intentionally while she was high on drugs and fled into the woods earlier this year. (File)

Ontario Provincial Police have been cleared in the case of a woman who crashed her vehicle intentionally while she was high on drugs and fled into the woods earlier this year.

The incident took place June 29 in Wauzhushk Onigum Nation, west of Dryden, Ont.

"Intoxicated by alcohol and illicit drugs, the complainant drove the vehicle she was operating off the road into a ditch," Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said in its report on the case.

"She had been quarreling with her husband, who was seated in the front passenger seat, when she decided to crash the vehicle, driving it off Bald Indian Bay Road on the lands of the Wauzhushk Onigum Nation."

Telling her husband that she was going to kill herself, the woman headed into a wooded area carrying methamphetamine and syringes.

Members of the Treaty Three Police Service responded, but even with the use of a drone, were unable to locate her. So they asked for assistance from the OPP, which sent help that included the K-9 unit, which began tracking her around 10:45 a.m.

"At about 11:30 a.m., after the team had travelled about two kilometres, they entered into an area of waist-high grass," the SIU said.

"Shortly thereafter, the sounds of a female screaming were heard. The dog had located and bitten into the left calf of the complainant."

It turned out she had concealed herself in a swampy area, where she fell asleep, waking up to find the police dog biting her.

"Officers arriving moments after the dog had latched onto the complainant directed her to stop fighting the dog," the SIU said.

"(The officer) proceeded to strike her twice in the forehead after which (the canine office) released the dog’s bite and the complainant was handcuffed."

She was then taken to hospital and treated for her wounds.

SIU director Joseph Martino said there was no basis for charges because police acted within the law.

Had driven while intoxicated

"Officers had information that the complainant had operated a vehicle while intoxicated, and they were entitled to arrest her on that basis," Martino wrote.

"Aware that the complainant had threatened suicide, the officers were also acting pursuant to their common law duty regarding the preservation of life."

While police were aware that the dog would bite the woman when it found her -- "that is what it's trained to do" – it was reasonable action in the circumstances.

"They knew the complainant was in possession of syringes and intoxicated, had cautions for violence on file, and had chosen to conceal herself in difficult terrain," Martino said.

"On this record, it made sense to have the dog exert a level of control over the complainant before the officers moved in to effect her arrest. It is regrettable that the complainant suffered a serious laceration as a result of the dog bite, but an injury of this nature is always a possibility when a dog is deployed."

He also ruled that the strikes to the woman's head during the arrest – which didn't appear to cause serious injury – were also within the law.

Read the full decision here.