Kelowna cop cleared of assault charge

Charges have been dropped against a Kelowna RCMP officer, but the case still may end up in court.

Corporal Chris Williams was charged with an on-the-job assault a couple of years ago.

He was alleged to have assaulted Geza Miklos Kende — who, according to documents obtained by Global Okanagan, was high on a variety of drugs including cocaine and heroin.

Through his lawyer, Williams learned just days ago that the charges against him have been dropped.

“I anticipated that this would happen. I, from the beginning have maintained my innocence and that my actions on the date in question were appropriate,” Williams said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I anticipated that this would happen. I, from the beginning have maintained my innocence and that my actions on the date in question were appropriate," Williams said.

The alleged assault was not reported by Kende, but by another cop.

“The initial allegations were made by a member who was not even present at the scene. She had heard about the incident second hand,” he said.

Williams said the RCMP decided to pursue the allegation, but said his bosses failed to follow protocol.

“Particularly with the fact that charges were forwarded to crown counsel without a ‘use of force’ report. That would be like attending a motor vehicle accident and not having any experience in assessing at the scene,” Williams said.

Williams’ lawyer, Neville McDougall, said the crown dropped the charges against Williams after the defence presented its own use-of-force report.

“They no longer believed that they had a substantial likelihood of conviction,” McDougall said.

McDougall, a former RCMP officer, said his client’s case sends a chilling message to other RCMP officers — the force won’t back up its members when their conduct is in question.

“Corporal Williams was a member of a street crew. He’s probably one of the best true street cops that I’ve seen in a long, long time. And when you’re with that segment of society there are times when you push the limits. And I think what I would take from this case is, for a true street cop do that now under this management style, they can’t expect to have any support whatsoever,” McDougall said.

The RCMP was asked to comment on Williams’ case. They did not get into specifics citing privacy reasons, but added the force is committed to dealing with any concerns its members may have and Williams can reach out to the RCMP if he wishes.

Meanwhile, Williams, who is on leave recovering from post traumatic stress disorder, said he’s considering suing the RCMP.