SIU concludes investigation of altercation at Acton Fall Fair

ACTON – A 54-year-old man left the Acton Fall Fair on Sept. 20 with a brain bleed and a fractured skull, following an interaction with Halton police.

The province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has concluded there is no reasonable grounds to believe any officers involved committed a criminal offence during the incident.

According to an SIU report, police were initially notified that a man had kicked a vehicle in the parking lot at the fair.

The vehicle’s owner confronted the Guelph man, who “was reported to have then assaulted the vehicle owner.” 

A Halton police officer put his hand on the man’s shoulder to get his attention, and the man, who was intoxicated, either punched or pushed the officer in the upper body, the report states.

“The officer reacted by punching the [man] in the face. The [man] fell, struck his head, and lost consciousness.” 

He was taken to Georgetown Hospital and then airlifted to a Mississauga hospital, with a skull fracture and “severe to life threatening” brain bleed, the report states. 

The officer who punched the man declined an SIU interview and did not provide notes. 

Three other officers were interviewed and provided notes, and three civilians provided statements, including the vehicle’s owner. 

Halton Regional Police Service communications were reviewed, as was a civilian video of part of the incident. 

“Conduct that would otherwise constitute an offence is legally justified if it was intended to deter a reasonably apprehended assault, actual or threatened, and was itself reasonable,” the report states. 

“Aware of a physical altercation between the [man and the vehicle owner] the officer was within his rights in intervening to prevent a continuation of the hostilities,” states SIU director Joseph Martino in the report. 

“He had just been assaulted by the complainant and was entitled to take action to defend himself from a further attack by way of like force.

“While it is regrettable that the [man] fell, struck his head and suffered serious injuries as a result of the officer’s punch, I am unable to reasonably conclude on this record that the [officer] comported himself other than in a fashion commensurate with the exigencies of the moment,” Martino states. 

Reporter