Police watchdog probing downtown Hamilton arrest that involved a ‘serious injury’

Ontario's police watchdog is investigating after a man received a serious injury" during a downtown arrest by Hamilton police Friday night.

Little information about either the nature of the injury or the reason for the arrest was immediately available Saturday.

Hamilton police briefly taped off an apparent incident scene near Bay Street and King Street Friday night, but the service referred Spectator questions about the episode to the Special Investigations Unit.

The civilian oversight agency is mandated by law to investigate any interaction involving police where there has been a death, serious injury, gun fired at someone or allegation of sexual assault.

Monica Hudon, SIU spokesperson, confirmed by email the agency was investigating after a 37-year-old man received an unspecified but serious" injury during his arrest.

She also confirmed the interaction" took place near Bay and King streets, but did not provide any details about what prompted the arrest.

Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com