No charges for Winnipeg police officers after man's elbow fractured during arrest in May: police watchdog

Winnipeg police officers will not face charges related to an arrest in May where a man's elbow was fractured.

The incident happened on May 28 after police were called to help a woman who was being assaulted on Sargent Avenue between Toronto and Victor streets.

Police located a man suspected of assaulting the woman nearby, a news release from the Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) said.

When police tried to arrest him, he wasuncooperative and officers said they needed to use force to take him into custody.

The man was injured during the course of the arrest and was taken to the Health Sciences Centre, where he was diagnosed with a fractured elbow.

Thatis considered a serious injury under the IIU'sregulations, andso an investigation was called.

The IIU's civillian director Zane Tesslerinterviewedthe man and four witnesses, and also reviewed the officers' notices, 911 calls and Air 1 footage.

He also obtained advice and expert opinions from a forensic physician from the province's chief medical examiner's office, the program manager for Winnipeg Police Servicepolice vehicle operations section, a traffic collision analyst from the RCMP and a physics professor from the University of Winnipeg.

After reviewing this andother evidence,Tessler did not find there were grounds to charge any of the officers involved with a criminal offence, the IIU news release said.