A cop with the Lower Mainland Police Dog Section will not face criminal charges in connection with an arrest of a man in Coquitlam in September 2014.
Following an investigation by the Independent Investigations Office (IIO), B.C.'s Criminal Justice Branch (CJB) determined the available evidence could not prove the use of force was excessive, despite the significant injury to the complainant's leg. A report from the CJB stated much of the officer's account was corroborated by other officers on the scene and independent civilian witnesses.
According to the report, just after 9 p.m. on Sept. 30, 2014, two 911 calls reported a man was drunk and possibly suicidal, and had committed several offences including breaking a window and uttering threats.
The police dog handler's report stated once on the scene, he saw a man matching the suspect's description standing in a front yard. The officer told the man stop and show his hands but the man advanced with what appeared to be a screwdriver in his hand, ignoring repeated commands to drop the screwdriver and get down on the ground.
A patrol supervisor described the suspect as "just out of it," and "just staring and not doing anything."
The supervisor also saw what he believed was a screwdriver in the man's hand, which also had blood on it, and thought the complainant may have intended to commit "suicide by cop" and pointed his Taser at him.
When the complainant stepped forward the dog handler let the dog go, it bit the man's thigh as officers yelled at him to get down, but the complainant showed no response.
"Believing the complainant was going to stab the [dog] and possibly the handler, [the supervisor] deployed his Taser," the report states.
This also had no effect, however, and the dog handler then ran at the complainant, knocked him down and removed the dog before handcuffing the man.
Two other officers on the scene gave similar reports, including that the complainant seemed oddly calm and did not appear to feel any pain.
Several civilian witnesses also reported hearing officers yell at the man repeatedly to drop the screwdriver and get down on the ground before the dog was engaged and the Taser deployed. The "screwdriver" later turned out to be a long e-cigarette.
Medical reports showed the complainant had a blood alcohol concentration almost twice the legal limit for driving about two hours after the incident; he also had taken cocaine and an unknown number of Tylenol 3s.
The CJB's analysis of the incident concluded that, on the available evidence, there were reasonable grounds for police to believe the complainant had committed several offences, that he was drunk and possibly suicidal, that he had a screwdriver that could be used as a weapon and he did not respond to police commands.
"There is no evidence to suggest the dog was intentionally used to inflict extra or unnecessary pain or injury," the report states, and therefore no basis for approving charges against the officer.
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