The police watchdog has cleared a Kamloops RCMP officer after an incident in March that led to an assault suspect suffering a broken jaw.
According to a new report from the Independent Investigations Office (IIO), the incident happened on the evening of March 12 in the 600-block of Columbia Street West.
The IIO says an officer was driving through the area when he saw what appeared to be a fight going on, and one man punching another person in the head.
The officer parked in a hotel parking lot and tried to arrest the suspect, who then fled on foot. The officer pushed the suspect, who then tripped and fell forward, going face first into a curb and breaking his jaw. The officer then pulled the suspect off the road as traffic was approaching.
The suspect was taken from the Kamloops RCMP detachment to Royal Inland Hospital to be treated for his injuries.
The report from the IIO says dashcam footage on the officer’s cruiser lines up with a witness account of the apparent fight that was going on, and how the officer tried to arrest the suspect before he fled.
“There is no doubt that (the subject officer) was acting lawfully in execution of his duty when he stepped out of his police vehicle to arrest – or at least detain – (the suspect) after witnessing what appeared to be assaultive behaviour,” IIO chief civilian officer Ron McDonald says in the report.
“Whether the push from behind was entirely deliberate, entirely unintended or somewhere in between, it was a justifiable use of force, and a safer and more appropriate way to stop a fleeing suspect than by either tripping or tackling him, football style. That (the suspect) was injured in the fall is unfortunate, but not a result of unnecessary or excessive force.”
McDonald also concludes that the evidence gathered shows that the officer used no further force on the suspect while making the arrest. As a result, he said the IIO will not be recommending charges.
At the time of the IIO starting its probe, RCMP said the alleged fight that the officer had responded to was continuing to be investigated. There has been no word of whether charges were ever laid as a result of that incident.
