Mounties involved with a rough 2020 arrest in Sicamous, B.C., that left the suspect seriously injured will not be charged, the B.C. Prosecution Service announced on Thursday.
The prosecution service had to investigate the arrest — which included a car and foot chase and tackling a suspect to the ground — at the behest of the IIO.
After analyzing the evidence, they found the charge assessment standard, which requires proving beyond a reasonable doubt, was not met.
The B.C. Prosecution Service said on April 14, 2020, that the RCMP officers in question, and others, went to a forest service road off Highway 97A near Sicamous, where a man with eight outstanding warrants, and who had fled from police on four occasions, was living in his 1999 Grand Marquis.
The effort required Mounties from the Sicamous, Salmon Arm and Revelstoke detachments. That day, they met at the bottom of the forest service road to arrest the suspect, according to the prosecution service report.
Officer 1 set up two spike belts near the entrance to Highway 97A and waited there in a marked police SUV, the prosecution service said in a statement.
Other officers set up just below Officer 1’s position in marked vehicles and laid out a spike belt on the road. Meanwhile, Officer 2 waited in their unmarked police truck at the rest area just south of Mara Heights Road on Highway 97A.
Then several officers drove up to the vehicle, spotted the suspect and told him he was under arrest.
Another officer had blocked the Grand Marquis with their cruiser but the suspect jumped behind the wheel nonetheless, rammed a cruiser, and made his way to the highway.
Before getting there, however, the prosecution service said he drove over the spike belts.
At that point, the BC Prosecution Service said three tires started deflating and the hood of the Grand Marquis started to pop up as it barrelled down the highway.
Police, in pursuit, turned on their emergency lights and activated their sirens, overtook the Grand Marquis and blocked the highway.
“The suspect attempted to drive into the ditch and around (Officer 1),” the prosecution office wrote. “SO 1 backed up and struck the suspect’s vehicle, stopping it.”
The suspect exited his vehicle and ran down the highway and officer 1 gave chase on foot, tackling him.
“The suspect landed face down on the road. (Officer 1) struck the suspect in the head with their hand or fist,” the prosecution office said.
Officer 2 arrived shortly thereafter and a video from the police cruiser dashcam suggests that they kicked and punched the suspect, the prosecution service said, but the video does not show where the blows landed.
More officers arrived and they noted the struggle to get handcuffs put on but not any blows.
The officers who did make statements, however, said that a five-inch hunting knife was seen within a metre of the struggle. It was kicked further away by one of them.
An ambulance arrived 24 minutes later, and the suspect was treated for injuries to his head and transported to a local hospital for further assessment and treatment.
The prosecution said the evidence wouldn’t be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers had committed a crime.