Ontario’s police watchdog will lay no charges against Niagara Regional Police officers involved in an incident that left a 49-year-old man with a fractured left hip.

The incident occurred on Feb. 6, 2017, when two Niagara Regional Police officers responded to reports of an impaired man sleeping at the wheel of a vehicle at a residence in Thorold.

The SIU report says the complainant resisted arrest so officers forced him to the ground, tased him and kneed in his left rib/armpit area before putting him in handcuffs.

Deployment data from the taser showed it had been discharged for five seconds.

The man was subsequently taken to a hospital and diagnosed with a fractured left hip.

The SIU report says the scene was never held, examined or forensically investigated.

SIU director Tony Loparco said “following a review of the evidence, in my view there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the (suspect officer) committed a criminal offence in relation to the injuries sustained by the complainant,”

According to the witness officer, the complainant was belligerent and told the officers to “f*** off” when confronted.

Witnesses had conflicting reports, saying the complainant refused to give his arms to the officers before learning they were police.

The report notes both officers were in uniform at the time of the arrest.

“This assertion was not consistent with the other witness accounts,” says the report.

No other witness accounts are provided.

“There is no evidentiary basis for a finding of excessive force by either the suspect officer or witness officer,” said Loparco's report.

“It appears highly probable that the complainant received his hip fracture during his interaction with the police officers on the evening in question, but the precise timing and mechanism are unclear, quite possibly the result of a knee strike or the impact of his fall.”

“Faced with the risk of danger posed by an intoxicated person seated in the driver’s seat of a vehicle with keys in the ignition who was belligerent and not following direction, the involved officers not only had the authority but duty to act to protect the public and the complainant from potential harm.”

The full report can be found at, ontario.ca/page/siu-directors-report-case-17-oci-030.