The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has cleared Barrie police of any wrongdoing after a 26-year-old woman suffered serious injuries by jumping from a bedroom window at a local housing complex in November.
SIU director Joseph Martino handed down his decision on Friday, noting he found no reasonable cause to believe a city police officer committed a criminal offence in connection to the woman's injuries. The case has been closed.
Barrie police responded to the Foundry Georgian housing complex on Georgian Drive the morning of Nov. 6, 2021, for reports of a domestic disturbance. The SIU says the initial call was for three men fighting, which those reports were unsubstantiated and officers left the scene.
Officers were later called back to the complex around 10 a.m. They met with the property manager who confirmed reports of the disturbance and indicated that female victim was one of the involved parties, according to the SIU. The officers and the property manager went to the front of the building to access the unit and check on her well-being.
The property manager let police into the unit, which includes a common area consisting of a kitchen/living room area, and then also provided them with a key fob to access her room. The officers announced their presence and began a search.
During the investigation, as they began a search of the residence, the SIU says the woman heard officers at the door, cut through the bedroom window's screen and jumped just as the officers entered the room. Police body-cameras did not capture the fall.
The officers quickly exited the building and found the woman "crumpled" on the ground with serious injuries, crying in pain. Police reported the woman was face down on the ground with broken limbs and bleeding profusely from the face. She was taken to St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto for medical care.
"Paramedics took the woman to hospital where she was diagnosed with a brain bleed as well as fractures to her pelvis and femur," Martino says in his report.
The woman's boyfriend, who had been hiding in the unit, was also located. Both had court-ordered conditions to not communicate with each other, according to the SIU.
Barrie police contacted the SIU shortly after 11:30 a.m. The SIU is called in anytime there is an interaction involving police and someone is seriously injured, dies or alleges sexual assault.
The woman was interviewed by SIU investigators on Nov. 19, 2021 and the witness officer was spoken to four days later.
"The officer was lawfully placed (at the scene) throughout the series of events leading to his entry into the (woman's) room," Martino said. "He had been called to the scene based on information suggesting a violent disturbance and possible injuries, information which was confirmed for him personally by the building’s property manager upon his arrival."
As the officer approached the unit where he believed the woman to be, he saw broken furniture, debris and, "most disconcertingly, bloodstains," Martino said.
The SIU says the officers had announced their presence and received no response.
Martino says the officers were duty-bound to enter the room to check on her safety.
As reported previously by BarrieToday, people living at the complex have said they are fed up with the "escalating violence" at the townhouse complex.
To read Martino's full report on the November 2021 incident, click here.
