BRACEBRIDGE, Ont. — An Ontario Provincial Police officer is facing a pair of assault charges, the province’s police watchdog said Thursday, following the arrest of a man who was allegedly left with serious injuries.
The Special Investigations Unit said the OPP constable has been charged with assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon in the arrest of the 43-year-old man.
The SIU said Bracebridge OPP officers were called to a Canadian Pacific Railway yard in Georgian Bay around 3:20 a.m. on July 10 after a reported trespassing and break and enter.
In a previous news release, the agency had said officers tracked a suspect to a nearby retail area where they shot him with a stun gun and arrested him.
The SIU said the man was sent to hospital, where he was diagnosed with serious injuries.
The watchdog is called in to investigate when police conduct may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault or the discharge of a firearm.
An OPP spokesperson said the officer charged has been with the force for 24 years and is on an unrelated leave of absence.
“Any potential investigation under the Police Services Act would only take place after the criminal charge is dealt with,” Gosia Puzio wrote in a statement.
The charged OPP constable is set to appear in a Bracebridge court on Dec. 20.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2022.
