SIU ends investigation involving Ottawa police officers and a woman who fell from an apartment balcony last fall
Posted Jan 18, 2023 06:00:00 PM.
Ontario's police watchdog has terminated an investigation into an incident involving Ottawa police officers and a woman who sustained serious injuries after a fall from an apartment balcony last fall.
In the afternoon of Sept. 27, 2022, Ottawa Police Service (OPS) officers were dispatched to an apartment building in Nepean following calls about a domestic disturbance. When an officer arrived on scene, a woman was on her balcony, about four metres from ground level.
She indicated she did not wish to live anymore and proceeded to climb over the balcony railing. The officer asked her not to jump and then placed a garbage bin under the balcony to cushion the woman’s impact if she fell. Within moments of doing so, the woman fell from the balcony onto the bin, suffering a fractured left elbow in the process.
Based on preliminary inquiries, Special Investigations Unit (SIU) director Joseph Martino ended the investigation, saying the officer did nothing to cause or contribute to the woman’s fall.
