A Victoria police officer didn’t use “unnecessary or excessive force” when a man suffered leg injuries while in custody the summer of 2023, according to a report from the provincial police oversight agency.
The Independent Investigations Office investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.
In this case, a man claimed his sprained ankle and fractured leg were caused by excessive force by a VicPD officer.
The man who filed the IIO complaint was taken into custody after a 911 call Aug. 30, 2023. In that call, one man said another was hitting him and kicking a door.
Officers were told the two men started arguing after drinking beer and taking mushrooms together. Each accused the other of assault. One of the men was taken to cells to sober up.
Once at the police station, the man said his legs were pinned in the back seat between the front passenger seat and where he sat handcuffed. In his written complaint, the man claimed the officer used excessive force to pull him out, resulting in a severely sprained ankle and fractured leg.
Four other officers provided statements that they didn’t see excessive force, nor of any injury. Upon release in the morning, the man complained he was injured the night before.
A video shows the officer pulling the left foot free.
“The video shows no indication of aggression or excessive force used by the SO (subject officer) or any other officer, and no sign of resistance or distress on the part of the AP (affected person),” the report reads. “The AP was then helped out of the vehicle and walked out of view towards the booking area unassisted and apparently without difficulty, not visibly favouring either leg.”
The man sought help for his sore foot the next day and was told his ankle was not broken – a week later, a second X-ray showed a fracture in his fibula six inches below the knee.
As the injury didn’t meet the significant injury threshold, the man’s complaint was referred to the professional standards department at VicPD. The man later filed with the IIO directly in March 2024, describing his injury in a way that appeared to meet the serious harm threshold – “though the IIO investigation triggered by the AP’s complaint ultimately led to a conclusion that it did not,” the report states.
The man subsequently made a complaint that he was left in a hot car in 33C weather for 10 to 15 minutes and later in a state of “semi-conscious from heat exhaustion” for 30 minutes at the department. Weather records for the region on that day and at that time show a temperature of 14.6 C.
The injury likely happened when the man was removed from the back of the police vehicle, the report states, however there is no evidence that the officer did more than help free the foot. In particular, there isn’t evidence he used unnecessary or excessive force.
With no reasonable grounds to believe an officer committed any offence, the incident will not be referred to Crown counsel for consideration of charges.
