A Toronto police officer convicted of beating the life of a young Whitby man six years ago quietly resigned last month after serving time in prison for the crime.
Toronto police spokesman Connie Osbourne told CP24 that Michael Terio’s last day as a Toronto police officer was April 19.
He has been charged under the Police Services Act with a professional misconduct resulting from his criminal conviction, but the proceedings cannot continue now that Therio has resigned.
Terio was convicted of assaulting then-19-year-old Dafonte Miller in Whitby in 2016, in a meeting that required two surgeries and later cost Miller one eye.
He was sentenced to nine months in prison and appealed, but was dismissed.
His brother Christian was also accused of the attack, but was acquitted.
The case drew a lot of attention due to the fact that it involved beating a white cop off duty and seriously injuring a young black man – who was initially the only person facing criminal charges in the incident, although he showed obvious physical injuries.
The Special Investigations Unit, tasked with investigating incidents in which a Ontario police officer is accused of seriously injuring a citizen, was not notified of the meeting until months later.
It was also learned that the father of the brothers, now retired Det. John Terio was at the crime scene to support his sons, but did not warn his superiors about the incident so that it could be investigated.
Miller testified in court that he was beaten with a metal pipe and that he feared for his life during the attack.
Terio was removed on bail pending his conviction in November 2020.
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