Alberta Mountie gets conditional discharge after being convicted of assault

RED DEER, Alta. – A Mountie who was found guilty of assault for using excessive force during an arrest has now been given a conditional discharge.

Const. Eric Pomerleau had been convicted for his actions during the arrest and processing of a man suspected of impaired driving in Red Deer, Alta., in 2012.

Surveillance footage showed the pair having an argument before the man was eventually taken to the ground and punched four times by Pomerleau.

READ MORE: Alberta Mountie faces criminal charges, accused of assaulting civilian 

At Tuesday’s sentencing hearing in Red Deer court, Pomerleau’s defence lawyer argued that he is a good husband and father, has suffered psychologically since the incident and has been a dedicated public servant for much of his life even before joining the RCMP.

He also told court that Pomerleau has suffered great embarrassment from the publicity of his case and that this incident was out of character for his client.

The judge agreed, saying that while a crime committed by a police officer is more grave than one committed by a member of the public, the offence in question was minor in comparison to other assault-by-officer incidents.

With files from CHUB