No charges against B.C. Mountie after service dog bites, severely injuries man

NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Crown says no criminal charges will be laid against a Vancouver-area RCMP officer whose police dog bit and severely injured a 41-year-old man.

The province’s criminal justice branch says it has not approved charges against a member of the Mountie’s police service dog unit following in incident in North Vancouver on Dec. 13 of last year.

A Crown counsel review found there was little chance of conviction on a charge of assault or assault causing bodily harm, because lawyers could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that releasing the police dog amounted to excessive force.

Officers were responding to a report of fraud at a North Vancouver financial institution when they spotted a man running from the bank.

A police dog was used to track the man and he was located nearby, but he was bitten and severely injured during the arrest.

A probe by B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office, which investigates cases involving police, wrapped up in June and the matter was then forwarded to Crown for a decision.