Watchdog critical of inaccurate Kamloops RCMP witnesses

A Kamloops RCMP officer won't face criminal charges after a 2021 arrest left a man with permanent brain damage, but police witnesses were called into question during the investigation.

Police arrested the man while he was experiencing a psychotic episode, reported to be throwing rocks at vehicles around 11:20 p.m., Feb 5.

The man was wearing only a shirt, jeans and boots on the February evening, shouting at people about Satan, and he was seen trying to pull a food delivery driver from his car, according to a report from the Independent Investigations Office of B.C., the province's police watchdog.

Several officers responded to the 400-block of Pemberton Terrace, eventually using pepper spray and two tasers to bring the man into custody.

The province's police watchdog doesn't compel an officer under investigation to submit information, and in this case, the Kamloops Mountie didn't contribute.

However, watchdog investigators took statements from two civilian witnesses, four first responders and eight witness police officers, along with reviewing dashcam footage from RCMP patrol cars.

One officer is heard saying "Tase the… guy" as one of the patrol cars approached the scene.

The man didn't listen to police when he was told to "get on the ground." Instead, he took "several large steps" toward the officer under investigation.

That's when he was hit with the first Taser, but it appeared to have no effect as it was attached to his shirt.

Video footage showed the man then started walking backward, at which point he went "completely rigid" and fell onto the road, striking his head and causing serious injury.

That was when the officer under investigation fired the second taser.

But the evidence from the witness officers were "not entirely consistent" with video evidence.

When interviewing five different RCMP officers, each said the man was rushing at the officer under investigation when he was hit with a taser.

One of the witnesses told investigators the unsuccessful energy weapon shot "sparked a reaction" from the man.

"It's like I'd just awoken the beast there. He was even more agitated than when I'd showed up there," the officer said in the report.

They were then shown the video footage, which shows the man backing away rather than lunging again.

"I know it looks like he was backing away, but that’s something I don’t want to comment on," the officer told investigators.

The man was left with life-altering brain damage after he landed with his head on the pavement and went into cardiac arrest, according to the report.

His brain damage now leaves the man with tremors in both of his hands.

The use of force was deemed necessary, but chief civilian director for the organization Ronald J. MacDonald, cast doubt on police officers that were interviewed.

"These inaccuracies are concerning, particularly because they all tend in one direction," which was to justify the officer's use of force, the report reads.

While MacDonald acknowledged that it's not unusual for eyewitnesses to be inaccurate in a "dynamic" incident, MacDonald is now referring the investigation to the RCMP for a Professional Standards review, according to the report.

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