Alberta Children's Hospital employees charged with assault
Three people working for Alberta Health Services have been charged after a man was assaulted at the Alberta Children's Hospital.
The victim, who is aboriginal, says hospital security guards beat him without cause in what he alleges is a case of racial profiling.
In December 2010, 23-year-old Bronson Crowchild was waiting at the front of the hospital for a ride after visiting his sister.
Two security officers told him to leave. One said they get people "like him" all the time trying to warm up inside, claimed Crowchild.
Crowchild said their verbal disagreement became physical.
“They started to punch me with closed fists,” he said at the time. “They were punching me in the back of my elbows, in the back of my neck. They were grabbing my ankles and smashing my knees into the concrete.”
Crowchild was charged with assault but that was quickly dropped, and now the two male security guards and a third contract employee have been charged with assault.
Kevin Brookwell with the Calgary police says the incident was captured by security cameras.
“I think CCTV always plays a pretty critical role — pretty hard to dispute video evidence,” he said. “Don't know if there's audio as well but when you have video evidence, it's always a pretty key piece of evidence.”
A couple of weeks after the incident, AHS apologized to Crowchild. AHS says it's aware of the charges but has no further comment.
Romeo Pilar Banaga and Ahmed Mahmoud Montasser have both been charged with one count of assault.
Tristan Scott Coombes is charged with one count of assault causing bodily harm.
All three will appear in court on Sept. 27.
