A provincial police officer did not transgress “limits of care” prescribed by law in his attempt to stop a man from jumping from an overpass over Highway 417 in June, the Special Investigations Unit has ruled.
SIU Director Joseph Martina said in a report issued Friday that the OPP officer was called to the Woodroffe Avenue bridge on June 2 on reports of a man behaving oddly.
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The officer found a 61-year-old man on the sidewalk on the east side of the bridge. The man retreated as the officer left his cruiser and took several steps in the man’s direction.”
The officer attempted to talk to the man from the front of his cruiser but was unable to establish any dialogue.
The officer asked the man if he could approach to better hear the man.
As the officer approached the man climbed over the railing and stood on the ledge of a highway sign affixed to the bridge.
The officer approached and got one leg over the railing.
He managed to grab one of the man’s hands that was holding the highway sign and pleaded with the man to return to safety.
The man stepped off the ledge and fell onto the highway below.
He was taken to hospital and diagnosed with fractures of the spine and both heels, the report says.
The SIU director ruled there was “no basis for proceeding with criminal charges” and the file is closed.
