More than seven years after B.C. man Myles Gray died after an altercation with Vancouver police, Global News has learned that seven officers could face discipline up to and including losing their jobs.
The potential discipline is outlined in a report produced for B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC), which found that allegations of abuse of authority and neglect of duty may be substantiated.
The report is not a final conclusion, and a disciplinary hearing is now scheduled for April, the same month a coroners inquest into Gray’s death is set to begin.
“I do believe these people should be dismissed from their jobs, absolutely they do. Because up until now, in my opinion, it’s been a perversion of justice. They have been working for seven years,” Gray’s mother Margie Gray told Global News.
“They took Myles’ life in the most heinous way. Nobody has ever apologized, nobody has ever said his name. They’ve just all carried on and continued their lives.”
Gray, 33, was unarmed when he died in a back yard on the Vancouver-Burnaby boundary on Aug. 13, 2015. Police were responding to a report that he had confronted a homeowner for watering her lawn during a drought.
B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office (IIO) led a probe into the actions of responding officers, two of whom were also injured in the incident.
Police were the only witnesses to the altercation, and the IIO probe was hampered by a lack of cooperation by some officers.
The IIO filed a report to the BC Prosecution Service for consideration of charges, but the Crown ultimately declined to press charges, stating that it could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that officers had committed an offence.
The extent of Gray’s injuries were such that no cause of death was ever confirmed. An autopsy revealed he had suffered a rupture testicle, a fractured voice box, a broken nose, sternum and eye socket and a dislocated jaw, according to prosecutors.
It also determined Gray had ingested Mitragynine, a substance commonly known as “Kratom,” and couldn’t rule out the possibility he had died solely due to factors unrelated to police use of force, including the use of Kratom or the condition known as “excited delirium.”
Suspension, dismissal possible
When the criminal investigation into the incident was concluded, a separate code of conduct investigation under the Police Act and under the purview of the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner was reactivated.
Global News has obtained a summary of that proceeding’s Final Investigative Report, completed by a sergeant with the Richmond RCMP, and outlined by OPCC-designated discipline authority, Chief Dave Jones of the Metro Vancouver Transit Police.
In the report, Jones states that after considering all of the evidence “there does appear to be sufficient evidence” allegations of abuse of authority for unnecessary use of force “may” be substantiated against seven officers, and that allegations of neglect of duty for failing to complete required notes and reports “may” be substantiated against six of those same officers.
Constables Beau Spencer, Hardeep Sahota, Josh Wong, Kory Folkestad, Nick Thompson, Derek Cain and Eric Birzneck could face a range of discipline for the abuse of authority allegations, “up to, and including, dismissal from the Vancouver Police Department,” the report states.
All of the officers, with the exception of Birzneck could also face a range of discipline “up to, and including, a suspension from duty, without pay, for up to 30 days” on the neglect of duty allegations.
“The discipline authority’s role at this time is not to make a final, or definitive, conclusion on any of the allegations, but is to consider the available evidence and determine whether, or not, there appears to be sufficient evidence, based on a balance of probabilities assessment, to determine if the allegations may be substantiated,” Jones wrote.
Two other officers who were present at the incident were cleared of all allegations, the report states.
New details on confrontation
While the report summary does not go into details about the altercation that could explain how Gray sustained his injuries, it does provide additional information about how the confrontation shaped up.
According to the report, which was drawn from interviews with the nine officers on scene that day, the person who initially called 911 reported that Gray was soaking his mother with a hose and “appeared intoxicated from drugs or alcohol or was unwell.”
It states that Gray engaged in a verbal confrontation with the first officer on scene and allegedly grabbed her vehicle window and tried to open her door before entering a residential yard after she yelled at him to “back off.”
Fearing for her safety, the officer called for backup, according to the summary.
Three backup officers arrived on scene, and the report cites them as describing Gray as “shirtless and that he looked very strong, muscular and sweaty,” and apparently challenging them to fight.
It details the initial altercation, in which officers deployed pepper spray and used baton and fist strikes as they attempted to put him into handcuffs as he allegedly resisted.
At one point, Gray allegedly punched one officer, rendering him unconscious, officers told investigators.
At that point, the initial responding officer radioed for more backup along with paramedics.
“After this initial interaction occurred, and continued, numerous other police officers started arriving on scene and engaged with Mr. Gray, including the use of force by individual members,” the report states.
What happened next, including details on how Gray sustained his injuries, is not included in the report summary.
According to the BC Prosecution Service’s report into the incident, Gray was was unconscious, restrained with hand and leg restraints and “suffering obvious injuries” within 20 minutes of officers first arriving.
He went into cardiac arrest and was declared dead less than an hour later, according to prosecutors.
The coroners inquest into his death is scheduled to begin on April 17.
The inquest, which is mandatory under B.C. law anytime someone dies in an interaction with police, is designed only to determine the facts surrounding Gray’s death, and cannot find fault.
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