Two B.C. cops charged over Taser jolt on 73-year-old

October 25, 2010
Ian Bailey, Globe and Mail

A member of the RCMP and a member of the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service have been charged with assault in the tasering of a 73-year-old man while in hospital.

The charges relate to an incident on April 22, 2010 in which RCMP, responding to a report of a man with a knife causing a disturbance, took the 73-year-old Surrey resident to hospital for treatment and assessment after apprehending him under the Mental Health Act

Statements released Monday by the RCMP and transit police say the man, while in hospital, was subjected to a single application of force from a Taser wielded by the RCMP officer in the push-stun mode.

The transit officer, who happened to be at the hospital at the time, became involved in the situation, say the statements.

The 73-year-old man suffered a facial laceration requiring sutures.

Following an investigation, Constable Mitchell Spears, a member of the RCMP with two years experience, has been charged with one count of assault and one count of assault with a weapon.

Constable Ken Jensen of the transit police has been charged with one count of assault.

Both officers have been suspended with pay.

“Allegations of this nature are troubling for all of us who are entrusted with the public’s confidence. We must now rely on the full process as set out in law to deal with these allegations,” George Beattie, acting chief for the transit police, said in a statement.

Transit police officer injured, taser used on fare evader during scuffle

January 17, 2009
CBC News

A fare evader was stunned with a Taser on Friday afternoon and a transit police officer suffered a head wound during a confrontation at a SkyTrain station in New Westminster, B.C.

Two transit police were checking passengers for fares on a train arriving at Braid Station, said Const. Tom Seaman of the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service.

When the train stopped at the station, the man, in his mid-30s, fled.

"He ignored the officers and kept walking; he was asked several times, but kept walking," Seaman said in a news release issued Friday.

One of the two officers tried physically to stop the man, who then became "confrontational" and went down an escalator that was going up.

"The physical altercation quickly escalated. During the altercation one of the officers fell down the escalator with the suspect falling on top of him. A Taser had been deployed without affect," Seaman said.

The officer who fell down the escalator suffered a head wound and was bleeding badly, but the man continued to resist.

"A second Taser was deployed, which helped bring the male under control," Seaman said.

The man was carrying a steak knife in his clothing, which fell out after he was jolted by the Taser, Seaman said.

Transit police said they had dealt with the same man two weeks earlier for not paying a fare, and he had to be physically restrained in that incident.

The injured officer was recovering in hospital Friday evening.

Transit police will recommend charges of obstruction, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest against the man.