Ontario’s police watchdog says it has found that an Ontario Provincial Police officer did not commit a criminal offence when they fired a less-lethal firearm at a Gravenhurst man.

The Special Investigations Unit says the incident happened around 10:40 p.m. on April 4 in Severn Township.

Police were called to a residential neighbourhood after multiple homeowners reported a man setting fire to several homes and structures.

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According to the SIU, one homeowner reported that the suspect was threatening residents in the area with a knife and appeared to be intoxicated.

Police say the suspect had been temporarily residing at a second home before the owner asked him to leave. He then reportedly set fire to that home, as well others, before police arrived.

The report says that when OPP officers arrived, the suspect was located in the yard of the second home, where attempts to negotiate his surrender were made.

The SIU says the officer, having reason to believe the man had a knife, shot him with an anti-riot weapon and a stun gun.

SIU director Joseph Martino found the use of the ARWEN made sense when the man refused to peacefully surrender and began to close the distance with the officers.

“Although believed uninjured, he had been taken to Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH) for examination,” the report reads.

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A limousine driver carrying 10 passengers was forced to pull over by those he was driving for suspected impairment, OPP say.

The OPP said that on July 11 just before 11 p.m., they responded to the limo pulled over on the shoulder of the QEW, Toronto-bound, near Fifty Road in Hamilton.

Police said one of the 10 passengers from the limo reported that they had forced the driver to pull to the shoulder and took away the keys to the vehicle as they believed that the driver was impaired.

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OPP said a driver of a separate vehicle had also called police to report seeing erratic driving from the limo.

The limo driver was arrested and taken to the Niagara detachment for breath tests.

No injuries were reported and there was no collision, OPP said.

A 64-year-old Toronto man was charged with operation while impaired by alcohol and drugs, having a blood alcohol content of more than 80, and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

“The OPP remains committed to taking alcohol/drug-impaired drivers off our roads through enforcement and public education,” police said, adding the OPP relies on the public to report crime.

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A mandatory water restriction remains in place for an Ontario town as a heat wave persists across the province.

Residents and businesses in Bowmanville, Ont., were told by Durham Region to discontinue all non-essential indoor and outdoor water use as of Sunday.

According to the region’s website, the urgent notice remains in place as of Tuesday and is “effective immediately until further notice.”

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“The Region is currently investigating a maintenance issue with one of the three filters at the plant,” the notice read.

“The water quality will not be impacted as the remaining filters will maintain our current high standard of water treatment; however, the maintenance issue has impacted the overall capacity of the plant.”

The notice said water restrictions are necessary to maintain adequate water levels to deal with emergencies such as fire protection.

It gave examples of non-essential water use such as cleaning driveways or decks, washing cars and lawn watering.

Southern Ontario is under yet another heat wave with temperatures in the 30s C but the humidity making it feel more into the 40s. The heat wave is expected to end by Wednesday.

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