Police watchdog clears officer who tackled Toronto cyclist after ignoring stop sign

Ontario’s police watchdog has cleared the Toronto officer who tackled a cyclist to the ground after they blew past a stop sign, revealing the cyclist suffered a “mild traumatic brain injury” during the altercation.

In late May, as Toronto police officers were handing out tickets to cyclists who failed to stop by Little Norway Park, near Bathurst Street and Queens Quay, one cyclist was tackled by police after he failed to stop.

A video of the arrest circulated online, appearing to show the cyclist tackled to the ground and then restrained by multiple officers. In the video, he complains he was in pain.

At the time, cycling lawyer Dave Shellnutt said, “You are not supposed to use force” when giving out Highway Traffic Act tickets.

But several months later, the director of the Special Investigation Unit said the 21-year-old cyclist “attempted to evade the officer by cycling around him” and “rendered himself subject to arrest.”

The investigation couldn’t conclude whether an officer tried to grab the man’s backpack or pushed him off his bike, adding that the cyclist had slowed down.

“(The investigation) found that the risk of injury was moderate as the man had significantly slowed when the officer stepped out in front of him and wrestled the man to the ground,” a news release from the SIU read.

“He later sought medical care and was diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury,” the report said.