A Trinidadian man is suing the City of Montreal, as well as three police officers, for what he claims was “abusive arrest, excess force and other violations of his constitutional rights.”
Ashton Boodoo says in May 2015, he was arriving home at 3:30 a.m. from a night out with friends.
He says two police officers, Steve Crevier and Olivier Lapointe, parked their cruiser just behind his car and “aggressively approached” him.
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According to a statement by the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), “it was dark and he had no clue who these men were.”
“He was terrified, gripping the sheering wheel of his parked car, too scared to move as they banged on his car and shouted at him ‘get the f— out of the car,'” it reads.
Despite his insistence that he hadn’t committed a crime, “one of the officers smashed Boodoo’s car window, shattering glass in his face.”
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Boodoo, who works as a psychiatric rehabilitation assistant at CIUSSS McGill, says he was pepper sprayed three times by Lapointe while Crevier “brutally hit” him with a metal baton.
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The officers then allegedly dragged him out of his car, across the broken glass and handcuffed him.
“Then they shoved him into the police car smashing his head on the door frame so hard that he passed out.”
Boodoo says he was terrified and “completely confused,” noting the officers hardly identified themselves, nor did they explain why they felt they the arrest had to be so violent.
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The LaSalle resident says he was detained for six hours, giving him “no option but to urinate and vomit on the floor.”
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He was released at 9:25 a.m., with his licence suspended and several charges laid against him.
Boodoo went to court, and in August 2018, Judge Randall Richmond stayed every charge, throwing out the case because he “severely questioned” the officers’ conduct and testimonies.
“After reviewing the evidence, Justice Richmond found that Boodoo was never aggressive and only refused to get out of the car because he genuinely feared for his life,” CRARR states.
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The judge said be believed the officers were on a fishing expedition and violated several of Boodoo’s constitutional rights and freedoms.
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Boodoo argues his experience isn’t helping the Montreal police’s negative relationship with people of colour.
“This case robbed me of three years of life, peace and dignity,” he stated, adding that he now suffers from PTSD and has had to take time off work for recovery and psychological treatment.
“No money in the world can compensate for the pain, stress, humiliation, and most importantly, the loss of confidence in the Montreal police, that I endured.”
He is demanding $85,000 as compensation.
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“This is one of the most appalling cases of police mistreatment and abuse of power we have seen in Montreal in recent years,” said Alain Babineau, CRARR advisor and retired RCMP officer.
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He insists the city and the police force must work harder to address racial profiling and rights violations, while working to improve relations with the city’s multicultural population.
A police ethics investigation is being conducted, however CRARR states Quebec provincial police has chosen not to file criminal charges against the two officers in question.
rachel.lau@globalnews.ca
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