Video causes stir of police officers punching, kicking robbery suspect in Quebec

MONTREAL – An act of alleged police brutality involving police in Trois-Rivieres, Que., caught in part on surveillance video, is causing a stir online.

Four officers are seen roughing up a suspect during an arrest early this month — kicking and punching the suspect as he lay on the ground in a parking lot.

The violent arrest of the 19-year-old man was played in a Quebec court during the suspect’s bail hearing Thursday.

He is accused of committing an armed robbery in a pharmacy in the town, halfway between Montreal and Quebec City.

The arrest images were captured by a surveillance camera for a post-secondary institution and they are now spreading rapidly online.

The four officers have had their guns taken away and are currently suspended with pay from the municipal police. A Quebec provincial police investigation has been launched at the request of the Trois-Rivieres police chief.

The suspensions came about 10 days after the arrest, when discrepancies emerged between the arrest report filed by officers and other information sent from a third party.