Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.
Lac La Biche RCMP have released dashcam video of what led to an arrest that has been criticized for the amount of force used by the arresting officer.
The arrest occurred on Oct. 1 in Lac La Biche, Alta., and was captured on video by a local resident.
On Friday, Staff Sgt. Greg Stannard with the Lac La Biche RCMP said around 2 a.m. Tuesday, police received a report from a family member that “an intoxicated individual was outside a residence being verbally aggressive toward the occupants and refusing to leave.”
One officer responded to the home and attempted to arrest the man by placing him in handcuffs, Stannard said.
The staff sergeant said the officer grabbed the suspect’s left arm, at which point Stannard said the man made the first turn with his right hand.
“The individual initially resisted arrest and then assaulted the officer, punching and attempting to hit the officer additional times,” Stannard said.
Stannard, playing the dashcam video to reporters Friday, said the suspect became “aggressive” and tried to hit the officer again. The officer then backed away.
“The officer attempted to use a loaded energy weapon in two separate encounters while the suspect continued to pursue him. However, both deployments were unsuccessful,” Stannard said.
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“The subject continues to be aggressive towards the officer and aggressive and then backs off and becomes cooperative for a moment, and then he approaches the officer again.”
That’s when the suspect and the officer walk out of view of the dashcam video. Stannard said this is when the resident video of the arrest begins.
The residential video was captured by Shakira Oar, who said she started recording after hearing shouting outside.
The video shows the arresting officer throwing Dennis Boucher to the ground. Boucher’s mother spoke to Global News on Thursday and said she was concerned about the amount of force used on her son.
“That is not acceptable. I’m not going to let it go,” Christine Boucher said Thursday. “No matter how old my son is, I will stand up for him.”
Stannard said the suspect was taken to hospital for stitches and then released into RCMP custody. He was released on charges of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.
Dennis Boucher, 43, after being injured during an arrest in Lac La Biche, Alta. on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.
Supplied
Stannard said the incident was now being reviewed.
“The RCMP has initiated our internal review process to gather a full account of what happened during this incident, including police training, policy and response.”
Boucher said Friday that the review is not enough.
“I want to see this RCMP off the force,” he said.
“Even if Dennis swung at him, he didn’t have to use the force he did on my son. There was no demand for that. We are all human beings. We don’t deserve to be treated the way he was.”
Stannard said the officer involved in the arrest remains on active duty.
Alberta’s Serious Incident Response Team said it has not been directed to investigate an issue at Lac La Biche.
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(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
source link https://globalnews.ca/news/10795588/lac-la-biche-rcmp-arrest-use-of-force/
