SIU clears officer after woman falls from Niagara Falls balcony during wellness check

Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has found no reasonable grounds to charge an officer in a woman’s fall off of a Niagara Falls balcony in May.

In the afternoon of May 30, authorities attended an apartment in Niagara Falls for a wellness check involving a 75-year-old woman.

The SIU says when officers arrived, the woman refused to open the door to them. She then began to speak of jumping from the balcony.

A friend in the apartment then opened the door for the emergency responders.

According to officials, as soon as the door opened an officer could see the woman through the living room on the balcony. He began moving towards her and watched as she tipped herself over the balcony railing.

He began reaching for her feet but was too late. The woman fell to the ground below. She was taken to hospital and treated for a broken femur and admitted under the Mental Health Act.

Following an investigation into the incident, SIU Director Joseph Martino has determined “there were no reasonable grounds to believe that an officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the woman’s fall.”

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