An officer involved in the arrest of a man who caused a disturbance at a Cambridge apartment building last December, barricaded himself inside and threatened to "blast police" has been cleared by the province's Special Investigations Unit.
A report on the incident from December 9, 2021 is being made public at this week's Waterloo Regional Police Service board meeting.
In it, the SIU details how members of the service were called to a disturbance at an apartment building in Cambridge after a man, who was later defined as the complainant, was causing a disturbance and had discharged a fire extinguisher in a common area.
Upon police arrival, the complainant retreated to his apartment and refused to give himself up to officers.
The complainant allegedly told police he had guns in his apartment.
A Feeney warrant was obtained and members of the WRPS emergency response team (ERT) attempted to arrest the complainant.
When the complainant came out of his apartment into the hallway, he refused to follow directions, told officers he had a firearm and allegedly made threats to “blast police.”
The report says that during the exchange, an officer discharged an anti-riot weapon Enfield (ARWEN) and struck the complainant in the leg.
After more than two hours of negotiation with the complainant, he surrendered and was arrested without further incident.
"The complainant sustained a sore leg and declined medical attention."
Police notified the SIU and they invoked their mandate. One officer was designated as a subject official but remained on active duty. Eleven other officers were designated as witness officials.
After completing their investigation, the SIU determined there were no reasonable grounds in the evidence to proceed with criminal charges and they closed the file.
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