Ontario officer not disciplined after police dog bit off man’s ear in 2022
Posted July 17, 2023 1:34 pm.
Last Updated July 17, 2023 1:52 pm.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says a London, Ont., police officer won’t face discipline following an incident in 2022 when a man was seriously injured after a police dog bit off his ear.
Ontario’s police watchdog said that just after 8 a.m. on Nov. 3, 2022, officers with the London Police Service were dispatched to the Wellington Street and Horton Street East area following reports that a man was attempting to break into a residence.
Police said the man fled the scene in an SUV before responding officers arrived. Authorities located the suspect but aborted efforts to pursue him when he failed to stop for police.
A short time later, the man fled on foot in a townhouse complex and a police dog was released. The dog bit the 28-year-old man several times, and his left ear was partly severed.
“The dog took the Complainant to the ground and bit him several times, including in the buttocks, and left upper arm and wrist. The most serious injury was one to his left ear, much of which had been ripped off by the police service dog, wrote the Director of the SIU, Joseph Martino.
The man was treated for serious injuries and was taken to a local hospital.
“The investigation is now concluded. On my assessment of the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the [subject official] committed a criminal offence in connection with the Complainant’s arrest and injuries,” Martino noted in the report.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials, including police officers and constables, that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
