SIU clears Windsor police in man’s death

Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has closed its file on an incident in which a Windsor man died after receiving CPR from a police officer.

Article content

The province’s Special Investigations Unit will not be looking any further into the death of a 26-year-old man in Windsor who reportedly consumed gasoline.

Windsor police responded with other emergency workers on April 12 to call from a woman at a residence on Hall Avenue.

The woman’s boyfriend was in a state of medical distress. She said he had ingested medication and a quantity of gasoline.

A Windsor police officer was the first to arrive at the scene. The officer immediately began performing CPR. Firefighters soon arrived and continued the procedure.

Paramedics then took over care of the man. He was transported to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

SIU director Joseph Martino said preliminary inquiries found there is “patently nothing to investigate, as far as the potential criminal liability of any police officer is concerned in connection with the man’s death.”

The file has been closed.

The Special Investigations Unit is a civilian-based independent government agency tasked with examining incidents involving police officers in which death, serious injury, an allegation of sexual assault, or firearm use against a person has occurred.