Cape Breton police excessive force allegations won't lead to charges
Serious Incident Response Team concludes investigation into excessive force allegations
A special investigation unit has decided not to lay charges against two Cape Breton Regional Police officers accused of using excessive force during the arrest of a teenager.
The Serious Incident Response Team was asked to investigate a case involving a 16-year-old who was attempting to break into a transport trailer on Oct. 4, 2014. The teen's mother lodged a complaint with SIRT in January of this year.
In a report into the incident released Friday, SIRT says an off-duty police officer spotted two teens attempting to break the lock off the trailer. The officer called dispatch and two uniformed officers responded.
When the officers arrived, one of the teens took off. The second teen, identified by SIRT only as AP, alleges the two officers roughed him up in an effort to get him to identify his accomplice.
The teen said police hit him in the abdomen, kicked his feet out from under him and pressed their fists into his temples.
The two officers told SIRT the boy resisted arrest and he was injured because he was struggling. They denied using excessive force.
SIRT investigators found both versions of events from that night to be credible, but decided criminal charges against the officers could not be laid.
"Given the significant burden of proof at a criminal trial, the evidence available is clearly insufficient to justify the laying of criminal charges in this matter," SIRT executive director Ron MacDonald wrote in his report.