Image Credit: Canadian Press

By Aaron Schulze

Independent Investigations Office

IIO recommends no charges against Clinton RCMP officer after suspect suffered dog bite injuries

Feb 12, 2021 | 11:31 AM

CLINTON, B.C. — A Clinton RCMP officer will not face charges after a suspect was injured during an arrest in February, 2020.

Ronald MacDonald, Chief Civilian Director of the Independent Investigations Office (IIO), wrote in his decision on Feb. 12, 2021 that he doesn’t see reasonable grounds to believe an officer may have committed an offence during the arrest.

The investigation stems from when an officer attempted to stop a vehicle after a report of an impaired driver on a highway near 70 Mile House. The suspect initially stopped for the officer but then drove away. The suspect was described as non-compliant when he was located by police underneath a residential porch, which led to a police service dog being deployed. The suspect was bit on his arm and hand and required surgery.

MacDonald said a civilian witness saw the suspect consume drugs with others outside a store before driving. When the officer encountered the suspect again, the suspect drove away once more after seeing emergency lights, which led to the officer asking for a police service dog to assist.

After the suspect was located under the porch, he didn’t come out or respond after numerous warnings. Another officer directed a police dog under the porch, where the dog grabbed the suspect’s arm and pulled him out.

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Once in handcuffs and not in the police dog’s grip, the suspect received first aid for the bite injuries and was later taken to hospital for treatment on his arm and surgery on his hand. The officer learned a man matching the suspect’s description was subject to arrest after numerous break-and-enter incidents in Chilliwack earlier that day.

MacDonald wrote that the suspect had a different perspective of events, claiming he didn’t see any police officers until the police dog grabbed his arm and dragged him from under the porch.

MacDonald said it was necessary and reasonable for the suspect’s compliance to be physically obtained and moved by the police dog where he could be handcuffed safely. He said the dog was removed once the suspect was handcuffed and under control.

“Had [the suspect] complied with demands to exit the space under the porch, as did the female who accompanied him, it is reasonable to expect he would have been arrested without injury,” MacDonald said. “It would have been risky for the officer to enter the unknown space under the porch and attempt to simply lay hands on [the suspect] to arrest him.”

Statements from two witness police officers, the suspect, recordings of 911 calls and radio transmissions, and video from police cells and cars were used for the investigation. The IIO does not compel subject police officers in an investigation to submit their evidence.