Crown prosecutors have stayed charges against a Chilliwack RCMP officer who shot a domestic violence suspect nearly four years ago.
Const. Keven Biagioni was charged with discharging a firearm with intent, aggravated assault and careless use of a firearm after an Independent Investigations Office investigation of the Jan. 12, 2021 incident.
In a statement Tuesday, the BC Prosecution Service said the change came after evidence given by officers at a preliminary inquiry in November 2023, suggested the suspect, who was armed with a barbeque skewer, could have been close enough to put an officer in danger.
That led the Crown to retain a use-of-force expert and to subsequently re-evaluate whether there was a substantial likelihood of conviction — a key metric on whether to proceed with charges.
In its statement, the prosecution service laid out that a woman had called 911 to report she had been assaulted by her husband, who had then left their home in a truck. The pair had been doing crack cocaine, and evidence showed he had written text messages stating he wanted to be shot by police.
About 90 minutes later, officers found the man in his truck near the Vedder River, where they used their cruisers to box him in. The man came out holding an “edged weapon” later identified as a 14-inch barbeque skewer.
According to the report, the man refused orders to drop the weapon and allegedly shuffled his feet and raised his hands to chest level, at which point a K9 officer who was closest to him and not protected by a vehicle broadcast “knife” over the radio.
Biagioni then fired twice, hitting the man once in the chest, according to the Crown.
In the initial report, police at the scene gave varying estimates as to how far the K9 officer was from the suspect, ranging from 10 to 20 feet to as much as 30 to 50 feet. The suspect estimated the distance to be 20 to 25 feet.
At the preliminary inquiry, the K9 officer maintained his estimate of between 10 and 20 feet, while another officer testified the distance was 10 feet and the officer who had given the largest initial estimate testified the distance was 20 feet, and could have been closer. Two others who did not directly see the shooting testified it was possible the distance was 10 to 15 feet.
The suspect testified he was 25 to 30 feet from the K9 officer.
The prosecution service said its use of force expert reported that an armed person could reasonably cover 21 feet in 1.5 seconds and that based on the circumstances of the incident, Biagioni’s use of force was “reasonable, necessary, and proportionate with the AP’s behaviour and the level of risk he posed.”
The prosecution service said the combination of the IIO investigation, the preliminary inquiry and the use of force expert’s report would have provided Biagioni with a viable defence under the Criminal Code, meaning the case no longer met the standard for charge assessment.