Woman testifies Abdirahman Abdi groped her before his arrest
Laura Osman | CBC News | Posted: March 13, 2019 6:00 PM | Last Updated: March 13, 2019
Warning: This story includes details some readers may find disturbing
Abdirahman Abdi grabbed a woman's breast through her car window not long before he was violently arrested by police, an Ottawa courtroom heard Wednesday.
The woman was testifying at the trial of Ottawa police Const. Daniel Montsion, who has been charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon in Abdi's death.
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She was called to describe what happened before police were called on July 24, 2016, to the city's Hintonburg neighbourhood, where Abdi was arrested.
The 37-year-old died in hospital the next day. Montsion has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
CBC cannot name the woman because of a court-ordered publication ban.
'Fight or flight mode'
The woman described how she was driving to a spa in her car with a friend around 9:30 that morning when she stopped at the corner of Fairmont and Wellington streets, next to the Bridgehead coffee shop.
A man walking through the crosswalk locked eyes with her, she said, and made a beeline for the driver's side window.
The woman said he had an "intense stare" as he leaned into her car and asked to shake her hand.
Defence lawyer Solomon Friedman identified the man as Abdi.
The woman testified that, after a prolonged handshake, she tried to pull her hand away — but he tightened his grip and told her repeatedly that he wanted to touch her.
She said he held her hand tightly as he reached in with his other hand and grabbed her breast, squeezing repeatedly. The woman testified she went into "fight or flight mode," pulling back her hand and driving forward.
She agreed with Montsion's defence lawyer that it was a physical and sexual attack.
Not relevant to case, Crown argues
The woman testified she initially didn't want to call police, but her friend convinced her to call the non-emergency line to report what happened.
The encounter, she told court, has had a lasting impact.
It took her a year-and-a-half to feel comfortable driving with her windows down, and she still won't walk through Hintonburg on foot even though she works in the neighbourhood.
She said she's afraid to think how the encounter would have gone if she had not been in her car.
Montsion's defence team has made several references to Abdi sexually assaulting women before police were called.
Earlier in the trial, Crown counsel Roger Shallows told court nothing that happened before the altercation between Abdi and police should have any bearing on the criminal charges against Montsion.
But the Crown is obligated to present a fair narrative of the events leading up to Abdi's death.