CALGARY – No charges will be laid against a man caught on camera yelling racial slurs at a Calgary cab driver in 2013.
READ MORE: Shocking case of racist cabbie abuse in Calgary caught on video
RCMP said on Thursday that Chad Pasloski would have faced a charge of mischief, but because the RCMP officer who initially investigated the incident made the decision to have the Pasloski pay the driver for property damage, no charges would be laid.
Officers reopened their investigation into the incident in July 2015 after Global News aired exclusively-obtained CCTV footage of the verbal attack.
“Because intervention by the officer occurred, there is no public interest in prosecuting the passenger,” said a Thursday news release from RCMP.
“The passenger paid the driver money for the damages to his taxi upon the understanding that he would not be charged and prosecuted,” explained police, saying to charge him now would raise a “significant issue” respecting Pasloski’s Charter Rights.
The Crown determined that charging the passenger and prosecuting him at this point would amount to an abuse of process and that any prosecution would now be contrary to the public interest.
When reviewing the actions of the officer assigned to the original complaint, RCMP found significant effort was spent in providing the taxi driver with restitution for damage caused, however, “little effort was made to bring the accused before the court for prosecution.” The investigation also found the officer ” became lost on the element of restitution” in her handling of the case. She has faced disciplinary action including a letter on her employment file.
READ MORE: Cab passenger who verbally attacked Calgary driver fired
RCMP issued a apology to the driver, 35-year-old Sardar Qayyum.
The Officer in Charge of the Airdrie RCMP is meeting with Qayyum to explain the outcome of the entire review.
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