SIU investigating after 3 teens arrested for allegedly slashing woman in face at Spadina station
Ontario's police watchdog is investigating after Toronto police arrested and charged three teens in connection with a woman being slashed in the face at Spadina subway station on Sunday.
According to the Special Investigations Unit, one of the teens, a 16-year-old boy, suffered serious injuries following his arrest on Monday night.
In a news release, Toronto police said the teens were arrested on Monday after police were called about a "suspicious incident" in the Long Branch Avenue and Lake Promenade area.
Police said an officer was "investigating a boy in the stairwell of a residential building" when the accused attempted to run and "alerted another boy and girl."
Investigators allege that one of the boys then "swung a machete" at the officer, before all three were arrested.
Police say the teens — a 15-year-old boy, a 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl — were allegedly the trio who got into an altercation with a woman at Spadina station Sunday evening.
In that instance, investigators said a male spat in a woman's face and repeatedly pushed her, before pulling a knife and slashing her, causing facial injuries.
All three suspects then took off, police say.
None of the teens can be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
All three teens are facing multiple charges, including assault with a weapon. They were scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning.
'Boy complained of pain,' SIU says
According to the SIU, officers were called to the area of Long Branch Avenue and Lake Promenade for a disturbance at 7:40 p.m. Officers found one of the teens, and when they tried to arrest him, the boy and another youth swung a machete at an officer, the release says.
"There was a struggle and the teens fled," the SIU said.
The SIU said two youths were later found near Park Boulevard in Etobicoke and taken into custody overnight.
"This morning, the boy complained of pain. He was taken to hospital and diagnosed with serious injuries," the SIU said in the release.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates police conduct that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and the discharge of a firearm at a person.
Late last month, Toronto police announced the deployment of upwards of 80 police officers to the city's transit system every day in a response to a series high-profile, violent attacks on the TTC.
