B.C.’s police watchdog is recommending charges against an RCMP officer after a man’s violent arrest near Williams Lake on Oct. 25, 2020 was caught on camera.

In a statement Thursday, the Independent Investigations Office of BC says it has determined that there are reasonable grounds to believe that “one of the involved officers may have committed an offence in relation to the use of force during the arrest.”

“As a result, and pursuant to Section 38.11 of the Police Act, the IIO has forwarded a report to the BC Prosecution Service for consideration of charges,” IIO Chief Civilian Director Ronald MacDonald, said, in a statement.

The incident involved a man who was reportedly driving dangerously in the Kamloops area before heading north towards Williams Lake. Police say they also had reason to believe that the driver may have had a handgun with him.

RCMP say the driver failed to stop in Clinton and again in 100 Mile House, noting it took two spike belts – one in 150 Mile House, and another along the highway in Williams Lake – to stop the vehicle.

Video of the arrest was posted to social media where it appeared to show an officer kicking and punching a man on the ground after he was chased down an embankment as another officer tried to handcuff him.

“The injuries the man sustained do not meet the required threshold for serious harm, as defined by the Police Act,” MacDonald said. “However, given the significant public scrutiny generated by video captured of the arrest, the Director of Police Services ordered an IIO investigation…at the request of the RCMP.”

Last October, RCMP North District commander Chief Supt. Warren Brown said that the video did not show the full scope of the arrest or provide the context as to what happened leading up to the incident.

“What is captured by the civilian video was the culmination of a high-risk, multi-jurisdictional incident, that put the lives of the public and police in several communities in jeopardy,” he said.

“We are fortunate that no one, including the suspect, was physically injured in an incident that can only be described a reckless and dangerous, which put the public and police at risk.”

The Tsilhqot’in National Government though condemned the violent arrest and were calling for the officers involved to be suspended.

“Unfortunately, the threat of unwarranted, unnecessary violence from the RCMP is a reality that Indigenous peoples live with every day,” Chief Joe Alphonse said, last October.

“We demand a full, independent investigation into this incident and the immediate suspension of the officers that were involved and we will not rest until there is accountability for this incident and an end to police brutality against Indigenous peoples.”

Given the IIO’s recommendation, the matter has been forwarded to the B.C. Prosecution Service for charge approval.

“In order to approve any charges, the BC Prosecution Service must be satisfied that there is a substantial likelihood of conviction based on the evidence gathered by the IIO, and that prosecution be required in the public interest,” the IIO said, in a statement.