A SIRT investigation has found no evidence to charge an RCMP officer following an incident at the hospital in Gander in January in which a patient who was having mental health issues suffered a broken arm.

The man was escorted outside by a hospital employee as he wished to have a cigarette. However, not long after that, he bolted. RCMP were notified and brought him back to the hospital.

That’s where the trouble began.

The process to place him in the “safe room,” the man became agitated—at first agreeing to go but then laying down conditions such as being given a cigarette. He ended up on the floor, wrapping himself around the legs of a stool. Police and security guards used force to restrain him but the patient ended up with an injury.

He launched a complaint, but when a SIRT investigator went to interview him at the hospital, he declined to talk.

Other people who were at the scene were interviewed, and none saw anything untoward on the part of RCMP.

Director Mike King says he could not form reasonable grounds to believe the subject officer committed a criminal offence.