Officer charged in Dafonte Miller beating accused of providing inaccurate information to investigators

A Toronto police constable charged in the beating of a young black man provided an account to the police service who investigated the incident "which was not accurate," a disciplinary document released Tuesday shows.

The copy of the document shared by the service with CBC News indicates Const. Michael Theriault has been charged with misconduct under the Police Services Act in relation to his alleged role in the assault of Dafonte Miller, who was hit repeatedly with a steel pipe on Dec. 28,  2016.

Theriault appeared before a hearing officer at the police tribunal on Tuesday morning. He did not enter a plea.

His lawyer, Michael Lacy, tells CBC News the charge will not be dealt with until after the criminal proceedings against Theriault.

Theriault and his younger brother, Christian, were charged by the province's police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, in July 2017 with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and public mischief.

Miller was beaten in the early morning of Dec. 2,  suffering a broken nose, jaw, wrist and permanent vision loss in one of his eyes.

Miller, his lawyer Julian Falconer has alleged, was chased down and beaten repeatedly with the pipe by Michael Theriault, who was off duty, and his brother, a civilian, shortly before 3 a.m. in a suburban neighbourhood of Whitby, Ont.

According to the original report filed by the Durham Regional Police Service officer who responded to the 911 call, the incident occurred near Theriault's home.

Theriault 'committed misconduct,' TPS document says 

"You provided an account of the confrontation to Durham Police which was not accurate," the Toronto police disciplinary document states.

"In doing so, you committed misconduct in that you did act in a disorderly manner or in a manner prejudicial to discipline or likely to bring discredit upon the reputation of the Toronto Police Service," it concludes.

The statement comes nearly eight months after Toronto's police chief publicly denied claims that the force's four-month delay in alerting the province's police watchdog about the case was a cover-up. Chief Mark Saunders previously said that the professional standards unit was indeed aware of Michael Theriault's alleged role in Miller's assault, but it was decided that the unit would not contact the SIU.

In December, CBC News learned that the Theriaults' detective father, John Theriault, accused of intervening in the probe into Miller's case on behalf of his son, was being investigated by the Office of the Independent Review Director (OIPRD). The elder Theriault was no longer with the force's professional standards unit pending the outcome of that investigation.

The Toronto Police Service declined to comment on Michael Theriault's misconduct charge while the matter is before the courts.

Meanwhile, the Waterloo police service is conducting an internal investigation into the Toronto police force's handling of the case. 

A preliminary hearing for Michael Theriault will take place in May.