New Brunswick’s police watchdog says an RCMP officer who broke a man’s nose during an arrest did not commit a crime.
The Serious Incident Response Team investigated after an officer injured a man while police executed a search warrant at a property in Moncton on June 2.
One of the four people at the residence did not co-operate with police and the officer pinned him against a forklift inside a garage and took him to the ground, breaking his nose, the watchdog’s report said.
It also said the man who was injured told the watchdog he has a hearing impairment and did not know what the officer was saying to him.
The watchdog found the officer acted reasonably while using force to secure the man in handcuffs because the man did not follow his commands.
New Brunswick RCMP said a 55-year-old Moncton man was injured during the police operation and later charged with 38 offences, including 25 counts of possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.
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Officers seized 26 stolen vehicles, 13 firearms, four prohibited weapons and one kilogram of suspected cocaine from the property.
The watchdog’s report said the officer who injured the man was a member of the Emergency Response Team and was wearing a vest that said “police.”
After the incident the officer told the watchdog that the man he injured was holding a water bottle and exited a garage on the property when police arrived.
He described the man as angry and frustrated and said he walked toward him without responding to his commands to put his hands in the air.
The officer told the watchdog he tried to grab the man’s arms and when he tried to pull away he pinned him against a forklift and then took him to the ground.
Once the man was on the ground the officer said he co-operated while he was being handcuffed.
The officer said the man told him he couldn’t hear after he handcuffed him.
In his statement to the watchdog, the man said he exited the garage on the property after he saw flashing lights.
He said he also saw armoured vehicles and people carrying firearms.
He said that the officer took him to ground by placing his knees on his back and pushing his face into the floor.
He told the watchdog that he didn’t know the man who took him to the ground was a police officer because he couldn’t hear what he was saying and that he didn’t see the word “police” on the officer’s uniform.
The watchdog confirmed in its report that the man had a hearing impairment, but said that the presence of police was apparent from the flashing lights and officers in full equipment.
The watchdog said the officer did not use excessive force when pinning the man against machinery and taking him to the ground.
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