Accused carjacker claims police brutality

The accused carjacker who allegedly tried to rob Anna Korutowska, the widow of murdered Ottawa police Constable Eric Czapnik, took the stand Thursday claiming police brutality.

Kevin Ransdell, a stocky 29-year-old, claimed two officers tackled him from behind when he was arrested June 27, 2010.

One officer "jammed his knee into my spine," the alleged told the court, then he "punched the side of my head and pushed my face into the concrete."

Photos presented in court showed two, dark red, six-centimetre scrapes across Ransdell`s right cheek and forehead.

These allegations of overzealous police treatment are the backbone of the defence motion to stay the charges.

Ottawa's police union president Steve Boucher told CBC News this is becoming very common for people to defend their case based on police treatment.

But he believes an alleged incident and a police complaint are separate matters.

"If he (Ransdell) has a complaint about what he perceives to be his treatment while in custody, that should be done through different channels and not through the courtroom," Boucher said from a meeting in Windsor.

Korutowska has previously testified she thought she was targeted in a planned carjacking when she was parked outside a south Ottawa grocery store.

She said a man demanded cash. But after handing over $300, she said he coerced her into driving him to another location, where he fled.

That’s when she said she first called 911 and identified herself as the wife of Czapnik, who six months earlier had been killed by a knife-wielding attacker outside the Ottawa hospital's Civic Campus.

Ransdell will take the stand again Thursday afternoon, along with a use-of-force expert from Ottawa police.

The trial is expected to last for several weeks.

A former RCMP officer, Kevin Gregson, is charged with first-degree murder in Czapnik's death.

Gregson's trial is slated for November.