No charges to be laid against Brandon police officers in 2022 arrest: IIU

No charges will be laid against Brandon Police Service officers who arrested a man two years ago that later alleged they assaulted him, the civilian director of the province's police watchdog says. 

BPS were called to Fifth Street around 5 a.m. on Oct. 15, 2022, the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba — which investigates all serious incidents involving police in the province — said in a news release Wednesday. 

A woman called police because a man had broken into her house and threatened her with a knife, the release said. 

When officers got to the scene the man had fled the area. He was tracked to a nearby parking lot where officers found him hiding behind a shed, according to the release.

The IIU said the man resisted arrest and police used force before the man was taken to hospital where he was medically cleared. 

The final report, published Wednesday by IIU civilian director Roxanne Gagne, said the man contacted BPS about the incident on Feb. 21, 2023 telling them he wanted to make a complaint to the IIU and had written a complaint for Brandon's police chief. 

The man alleged he was assaulted by officers while handcuffed and received 37 injuries during his arrest — "none of which appeared to be serious under the Police Services Act," the report said.  

Police told the IIU on Feb. 23, 2023, the man broke into the home of his ex-spouse and called her, leaving messages threatening to kill her.

The K9 unit tracked the man to a location a short distance away and police found him hiding, the report said. It also said the man resisted arrest and force had to be used to place him into custody. 

Once in custody he was found to have a knife, the report said. 

Officers also told the IIU that once at the hospital and in the presence of a nurse, the man threw himself on the floor and "smashed his head into the floor and wall." 

Man said he suffered 'terrible beating' 

The man told IIU that once officers found him where he had been sleeping at a nearby church, he "suffered a terrible beating that just kept going." 

The man said he had been sleeping outside the church because he had an anger management course on Saturday and Sunday at 9:30 a.m. that weekend. 

The course was ordered by the courts and he had to take it to get his son out of CFS care, the report said. The courses weren't at the church, but chose to sleep there because of the cameras and felt it was a safe place, the report said. 

He woke up to the sound of a dog sniffing around, heard shouting and swearing and people were "saying his name in a threatening manner," the report said. 

The report said the man "refused to say why his ex-spouse" may have called the police and that he couldn't "comment on that because it was still before the courts." However, he later admitted he was arrested for breaking and entering, possessing a weapon dangerous to public peace and a breach of an order, the report said. 

According to Gagne's report, the man alleged police were telling him that they had "45,000 volts" pointed at his head and were going to "sic the dogs on you." 

He said an officer "kept punching him in the head, body and kidneys," according to the report. The man also said he lost consciousness at one point and when he came to, the officers were still on his legs, pinning him down. 

When he looked up, an officer kicked him in the head and he was beaten again, the report said. The man alleged in the report there were two rounds of beatings and he lost consciousness twice. 

"He said the officers were threatening him and he was terrified so he was not going  to resist arrest," Gagne wrote in the report. 

He also claimed to have suffered a slew of injuries, some of which included cracked ribs, that his "right temple felt like it was cracked" and that he suffered hearing loss in his right ear. 

The man also told the IIU he was bedridden for 19 days. 

Civilian director says use of force was reasonable 

Gagne said even though the man sustained injuries during the arrest it's not "conclusive that excessive force was used, but is some evidence that I must consider."

The extent of all the injuries alleged by the man weren't "substantiated medically" and it's unclear whether he may have contributed to his own injuries by "banging his head on the floor while at the hospital," the report said. 

Gagne also said officers believed the man was in possession of a knife because of the threats he made and it was later confirmed he did have a box cutter on him. The man was also "moving around, resisting arrest and kicking at offices," the report said. 

He also didn't listen to verbal commands from police multiple times, the report said. 

Gagne concluded she was satisfied by the use of force by all officers and there are "no grounds to support any charges" against the officers.