No charges against police after scuffle broke suspect’s jaw: B.C. justice branch

VICTORIA – No charges will be laid against members of a Vancouver Police Department strike force whose arrest of two men left one of the suspects with a broken jaw.

The B.C. Criminal Justice Branch announced Tuesday that the available evidence against the officers doesn’t meet its charge-assessment standard for approval.

In September last year, a team watching four people believed to be behind multiple robberies witnessed a jewelry store heist, then tracked the suspects through four Metro Vancouver cities, cornering two men in Port Moody.

A summary of the event said several officers and a police dog moved in to arrest the pair, and in the struggle one suspect received a broken jaw and bite wounds.

The branch says neither the suspect nor other witnesses could explain how the man’s jaw was injured or who might be responsible.

B.C.’s police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office, conducted a review of the incident and then passed its report on to Crown, which determined that it couldn’t prove any of the three officers used excessive force.