File photo.
The Independent Investigations Office of BC has cleared VicPD officers of any wrongdoing in connection with an incident that left a man with a fracture on the left side of his face.
Police were called to the man’s home on March 27. 2017 over concerns that he might harm himself.
The IIO report says that officers spoke with the man and that he agreed to go to the hospital by ambulance.
A paramedic at the scene told the IIO that the man had refused to to allow his vital signs or blood pressure to be checked, and didn’t want to be touched or spoken to.
He also told the IIO that the man had become agitated when he saw media personnel at the edge of the police barricade and started raising his voice.
The man then opened the rear door of the ambulance, at which point the IIO says he either dove out or was pulled out and taken to the ground by up to 3 officers.
“He had changed from being quite cooperative to being physically uncooperative quite quickly,” the report reads.
It states that as the struggle moved towards the driver side of the ambulance, video shows the officers attempting to handcuff the man and an officer applying a right knee strike to the right side of the man’s shoulder/head area at which point he was handcuffed.
The IIO report says that the man suffered a facial fracture during the incident and had to undergo surgery.
“The physical force used to restrain and handcuff AP (affected person) that was caught on video does not appear to be in excess of what was required,” the report reads.
“He was clearly resisting officers.”
The report also found that it was unclear when during the altercation the man had suffered the facial fracture and that it could have happened when he left the back of the ambulance and wound up on the ground.
“The evidence collected does not provide grounds to consider any charges against an officer,” the IIO found.
Ben O'Hara
