The Special Investigations Unit has cleared an officer from the Ontario Provincial Police of any criminal wrongdoing following a drug overdose that occurred in custody in Pembroke.
The provincial oversight agency released its findings on April 1, 2026, regarding an incident from December 2, 2025. On that evening, officers from the Upper Ottawa Valley OPP detachment were called to a home on Pembroke Street West following a report of a disturbance. During the response, police seized two loaded firearms and a quantity of suspected cocaine.
A 44-year-old man was arrested at the scene on an outstanding warrant for breaching a probation order. According to the investigation, the man was searched and placed in the backseat of a police cruiser. While alone in the vehicle, the man repositioned his handcuffs from behind his body to the front and retrieved a bag of drugs he had concealed in his pants. He then ingested the substance.
The man fell into medical distress, prompting officers to administer two doses of naloxone while they waited for emergency responders to arrive. He was stabilized at the Pembroke Regional Hospital before being transported to the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus for further treatment.
In his decision, Special Investigations Unit Director Joseph Martino found no reasonable grounds to charge the officer involved. While Martino noted it was regrettable that the drugs were not discovered during the initial search, he stated that it was unlikely anything short of an invasive strip search would have revealed the contraband given how it was hidden.
