An investigation into a man’s injuries from a balcony fall in Toronto last summer has been discontinued.
The incident in question happened on Aug. 14 at a residence in the High Park area.
According to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), a 25-year-old man sustained multiple fractures after falling from a fifth-floor balcony while attempting to flee from Toronto police officers.
On Dec. 12, SIU Director Joseph Martino announced that this investigation has been discontinued following “preliminary inquiries, including an interview with the man and video footage that captured the incident in parts.”
He said that police learned that the man, who was a guest at an apartment on High Park Avenue, was wanted on an outstanding warrant.
The SIU said that police sought permission to enter the dwelling, but the tenant declined.
“Officers waited outside the front door while considering their options, including applying for a Feeney warrant to force entry. Just before the leaseholder of the apartment arrived on scene and entered the unit, the man attempted to scale down the balcony and fell to the ground below,” the civilian agency said in a news release, noting that none of the officers had entered the apartment or interacted with the man prior to his fall.
“On this record, aside from setting the stage for the man’s attempt to flee, Director Martino concluded that it was apparent none of the officers on scene contributed to the fall in any manner that could attract criminal sanction.”
The SIU investigates incidents involving police where there has been death, serious injury, allegations of sexual assault, and/or where a firearm has been discharged at a person.
