Man alleging threats urged to talk to police

The head of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs wants a First Nations man to break his silence and speak with Winnipeg investigators about allegations of police harassment.

AMC Grand Chief Ron Evans said Evan Maud's "resistance" is hindering a police investigation into the incident.

Maud, 20, claims he was waiting for a transit bus near Main Street and Magnus Avenue sometime after 4 a.m. on Dec. 3 when he was approached by two men inside a black car that he believes was an unmarked undercover police vehicle.

One of the men wore a jacket marked "police" and the car had a computer, police radio and a partition between the front and back seats, Maud told a press conference earlier this week.

Maud alleges the men accused him of being drunk and having a record for break and enter and stealing cars. Maud told the men to take him to the drunk tank but alleges they instead drove him to the southern outskirts of the city, told him to get out and took his jacket.

They then told him to run, threatening to shock him with a stun gun, Maud said.

Maud has not yet filed a formal complaint with either the police or the Law Enforcement Review Agency, an independent investigative body that examines non-criminal complaints about municipal police officers in Manitoba.

His family said Wednesday they are afraid to deal with the police directly, so they asked the AMC to act as an intermediary.

But the assembly now says it's time for Maud to share his story with police investigators.

Police Chief Keith McCaskill said investigators have started looking into the allegations, based on media reports, but are stymied by the fact that Maud won't come forward to them what happened.