No evidence police were responsible for Parry Sound woman’s broken ribs

Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit says there is no evidence to support a woman’s claim that police were responsible for two broken ribs diagnosed after her arrest in 2025. (File)

Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit says there is no evidence to support a woman’s claim that police were responsible for two broken ribs diagnosed after her arrest in 2025.

The 34-year-old woman was intoxicated when she was arrested Oct. 5, 2025, at Oastler Lake Provincial Park in Parry Sound for assault.

But when she made her first court appearance Nov. 27, she filed a formal complaint, saying she had suffered two broken ribs and punctured lungs during the arrest.

The SIU began its investigation Nov. 28. Video evidence from the OPP cruiser showed her in the back seat around 12:30 a.m. Oct. 5.

“She was emotional and crying,” the SIU investigation said.

Denied the assault

“She repeatedly asked police officers why she was being detained and stated she did not understand what she had done wrong. The complainant apologized multiple times and appeared confused and emotionally distressed throughout the interaction.”

She denied assaulting anyone and an officer read her rights and told her she would be sleeping in jail overnight. Around 12:51 a.m., still in the OPP cruiser, she “accused the police of ‘treating her like sh—t’ and yelled profanity towards” the officer who had arrested her.

They arrived at the detachment around 1 a.m. and OPP custody footage showed police removing the handcuffs and the woman walking into the jail cell.

After a restless night, video footage showed her leaving her cell to be fingerprinted around 7:30 a.m. She used her cellphone just after 7:45 a.m. and left her cell around 8:45 a.m. to fill out paperwork and leave.

“The complainant returned to the park to meet with (a civilian) in violation of a no-contact condition of her release from custody,” the SIU said.

“She subsequently attended hospital that same day and was diagnosed with two broken right-sided ribs.”

In his decision, SIU director Joseph Martino wrote that OPP officers arrested the woman for slapping someone at the campground.

No evidence to back accusation

While she claimed that police caused her broken ribs, Martino said the investigation found no evidence that the accusation was true.

“None of the campers she was with, some of them present at the time of the arrest, observed the (the police officer) or any of the officers present use force or otherwise do anything to injure the complainant,” Martino wrote.

“The video footage captured by one of the campers … did not depict any inappropriate behaviour by the officers. The same can be said of the video footage of the complainant’s time in the cruiser en route to the detachment, and her stay at the detachment until her release.”

Without any evidence, he had no reason to believe an offence was committed, Martino wrote.

“The file is closed.”

Read the full decision here.