No charges for Edmonton police officer after punch left man, 65, with serious injury
An Edmonton police officer won't face criminal charges after breaking the jaw of a 65-year-old man with a "full force punch to the head" that required multiple surgeries to repair.
The officer's "single forceful punch," delivered inside a south-Edmonton hotel, caused the victim's head to hit a concrete wall, "rendering him unconscious as he fell face forward to the hallway floor," the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) said in a news release Monday.
The March 3, 2018, incident was captured on closed-circuit video, ASIRT said.
"The whole of the evidence, including the video, raised the issue of whether the degree of force used, a full force punch to the head, was objectively reasonable in the circumstances," ASIRT said.
After its investigation, ASIRT forwarded its findings to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) for an opinion.
"The opinion provided indicated that the evidence did not meet the standard for prosecution, finding there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction," ASIRT said. "Following a review of the evidence gathered in the investigation and the ACPS opinion, the officer will not be charged with any criminal offence."
ASIRT got involved on March 4, 2018, the day after the incident at the Argyll Plaza hotel.
The night before, a group of people staying in two separate rooms were socializing and drinking together. One couple went back to their room, but the woman soon returned to the first room. She asked that someone call for an ambulance because her husband had been injured.
Emergency medical services responded and requested police assistance.
When a 65-year-old man from the first room heard about the injury to the other man, he went to the man's room and waited with him until EMS arrived. When EMS got to the room, the man left but returned twice, and became argumentative with the paramedics, ASIRT said.
"It was apparent that the man seemed significantly impaired by alcohol," ASIRT said in its release. EMS barred him from the room so they could work on the patient.
When an Edmonton Police Service officer arrived, he found the situation under control and told his supervisors there was no need for additional officers.
But the 65-year-old came back to the room and knocked on the door. The officer told him to go back to his own room.
'Swinging his arms'
"When the man failed to comply with that direction, the officer exited the room and began pushing the man towards his own room, with the man attempting to pull away, swinging his arms," ASIRT said, adding the officer later said he believed the man was about to hit him.
After the punch, the officer handcuffed the man, who remained unconscious for three minutes and was disoriented when he came around. Blood was coming from his mouth.
ASIRT found that the officer was acting in the lawful execution of his duties by trying to stop the man from interfering with the paramedics.
The issue was whether the use of force met the standard of "reasonably necessary," ASIRT said. The officer co-operated with the investigation and provided a voluntary statement, it said.
ASIRT's mandate is to investigate incidents involving Alberta's police that result in serious injury or death.
