Vancouver officer accused of taser assault on trial

November 6, 2007
CBC News

A man told a provincial court in Vancouver on Monday that a police officer grabbed him by the throat, shoved him against the wall and handcuffed him before jolting him three times with a Taser. Vancouver police Const. Trevor Lowe is being tried on charges of assault and assault with a weapon in connection with an arrest he made in June 2005.

Carlo D'Ambrosio testified that one of his friends who was drunk that night in June caught the attention of a police officer patrolling the Stone Temple nightclub on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver. D'Ambrosio, 23, said that after his friend was asked to leave the club he approached the officer and asked why his friend was being kicked out.

The officer told him to back off, D'Ambrosio said, after which he raised his arms, saying he had meant no harm and just wanted an answer. At this point, D'Ambrosio told the court, the officer grabbed him by the throat, shoved him against the wall and put him in handcuffs. The officer then took him down the stairs to the entrance of the club and shocked him with the Taser three times, D'Ambrosio said.

After receiving the jolts and in a delirious state, D'Ambrosio said, he was taken outside and slammed to the sidewalk, where the officer got on top of him with his knees on his chest.

Lowe will testify in his defence at a later date.

The trial judge will also examine a key piece of evidence — a video surveillance tape taken inside the premises by nightclub security. But it didn't capture the use of the Taser outside the entrance.