Video footage has emerged from the alleged assault of a Vancouver police officer by three young men in the downtown core on Tuesday night.
A witness, under the pseudonym Dewy Dabs, posted his video of the event on YouTube, gathering over 60,000 views in a day.
The video begins when an argument has already started between three car occupants and two police officers who were dressed in plain clothes. The officers had pulled the Dodge Durango over with their emergency lights for driving down an unauthorized portion of Granville Street, and for displaying an “N” on the vehicle and having too many passengers inside.
READ MORE: Victoria man among 3 charged after police officer assaulted during traffic stop
The car occupants have since been identified as Brendan John Robinson, 21, and Troy Michael Robinson, 22, both of West Vancouver, and Brian Benjamin Allen, 24, from Victoria.
After some shouting, one of the car occupants attempts to run away, before being struck by a truck in at the intersection of Robson and Seymour Streets.
[WARNING: the video contains explicit language and shows a man being hit by a truck]
The man continues to run, before being arrested with the assistance of police back-up.
The video filmer followed the situation, and was pushed out of the way as the arrest was made. He told officers he’d just seen the man was hit by a car and he wanted to see if he was okay because he was an ERT member at his work.
“That dude kicked him in the stomach pretty hard for no reason,” the filmer said, pointing to one of the officers.
The officer replied “He severely assaulted my partner, and he is combative.”
In a statement put out by the Vancouver Police Wednesday morning, Sgt. Jason Robillard said that during a routine traffic stop the three men inside were confrontational and verbally abusive. It was later revealed that one of the passengers also blew smoke into one of the officer’s faces.
“The officers became concerned for their safety as the occupants refused to follow police direction and began reaching under the seat,” Robillard said.
When one of the officers opened the passenger door, he was pulled into the vehicle and punched repeatedly in his head and face.
Robillard said this resulted in the officer sustaining substantial injuries, though he has been released from hospital and is recovering at home.
Brendan John Robinson and Troy Michael Robinson were each charged with assault of a police officer causing bodily harm and willfully obstructing a police officer.
Brian Benjamin Allen was charged with possession of stolen property under $5000 for allegedly taking the injured officer’s cell phone.
All three suspects were known to police and have a police history.
Drugs and alcohol were also seized from the vehicle, and Robillard said there was evidence that the car occupants were impaired, and that there is still potential for charges to be laid against them for this.
The man who was hit by a truck was released from hospital without any reported injuries.
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