SAULT STE MARIE, Ont. - Ontario's police watchdog says it will not lay charges against a Sault Ste. Marie police officer who punched a suspect during an arrest, causing a chain of injuries that required a medically induced coma.

The Special Investigations Unit says officers were called to a home to investigate a domestic situation in the evening of March 26.

The SIU says the officers saw broken glass and blood on the floor, several crushed beer cans and a 54-year-old man who appeared to be intoxicated.

The agency says the officers found the man was in breach of recognizance that barred him from drinking, and told him he was under arrest.

It says the man ignored instructions to stand up, turn around and put his hands behind his back, and struggled as one of the officers pushed him against the couch and tried to handcuff him.

The SIU says the officer warned the man not to struggle and then delivered a single punch to the man's left side when the warning went unheeded.