A Kelowna Mountie caught on video more than two years ago in what appeared to be a violent arrest has been found not guilty of assault.
Judge Mariane Armstrong said in a decision reached Thursday that Const. Siggy Pietrzak acted reasonably given the circumstances he faced during the May 2020 arrest of Tyler Russell, and that the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was an assault.
“Mr. Russell was younger, stronger empowered by liquor and drugs and fixed in his determination to do whatever he needed to do to avoid being handcuffed,” Armstrong said.
“Although we cannot use subsequent events to assess the reasonableness of past events, Mr. Russell’s continued belligerence and attempt to fight police proves that (Pietrzak) was correct in his assessment that Mr. Russell would attempt to assault them the second he had the chance and the only thing standing between him and that chance was two men in their 50s who were tiring in the struggle.”
Therefore, Armstrong said, the defendant’s punches were necessary.
“They were not out of proportion … In all the circumstances they were reasonable. Shocking, but reasonable.”
The charges stem from an incident in May 2020 when officers responded to a call of an intoxicated man. Two officers were first dispatched to the scene and Pietrzak was called for backup.
The arrest was caught on video and partial footage of the incident appeared to show Russell struggling with two officers before a third officer ran up and repeatedly struck him.
That officer was Pietrzak and the subsequent release of video footage on social media prompted widespread condemnation.
Further analysis of the video combined with witness testimony paints a slightly different picture than what was initially portrayed, Armstrong said.
“The punches depicted on the video were delivered quickly and in two flurries,” she said.
Witnesses during the trial indicated that discretionary strikes are a legitimate response to actively resisting parties, Armstrong said.
And with one officer on the left, another on the right, and a vehicle behind him, Pietrzak had “very little real estate” with which to act, she said, limiting his options on how to respond.
Also, while it appeared that there was a flurry of punches, witnesses and Russel estimated only two to four connected in the first set. In the second round, two more connected and Russell went limp.
“I’m satisfied that had Mr. Russell been fully controlled and unable to defend himself, no punches would have been necessary,” she said.
Armstrong also noted that in hindsight, slowing things down would have been ideal. Police don’t have a “blank cheque” to deliver force but in this case the situation merited the response.
At the time, Kelowna RCMP Supt. Brent Mundle held a press conference calling for patience as an investigation was launched.
“I recognize that the tactics seen in the video are shocking to many people,” Mundle said. “Any time an officer is required to apply a use of force option during an arrest it can appear very disturbing. It is always our intention to enact a peaceful arrest but, when circumstances require it, officers may be required to use other options this may include the use of physical force.”