An harmless man who was mistaken for a house invasion suspect and shot with rubber bullets final week desires to see the Vancouver cops concerned in his wrongful arrest held accountable.
Elijah Barnett advised CTV Information he was strolling a buddy’s canine within the metropolis’s Yaletown neighbourhood final Wednesday when he was all of a sudden knocked to the bottom.
“I believed I might been hit by a automotive at first and realized I used to be being swarmed by police and K9 items,” Barnett mentioned in a written assertion. “They have been beating me and ripping at my garments.”
The officers additionally fired two less-lethal ARWEN rounds at him. Barnett shared photos on social media displaying giant purple bruises on his abdomen and buttocks after the arrest.
He claimed to have been handcuffed and detained for over two hours as a result of he wasn’t carrying a pockets or identification with him to show his identification.
“After they realized their error I used to be ‘dusted off’ and despatched on my means with a blatant empty apology,” Barnett wrote. “I’ve cuts, scrapes and bruises throughout my physique. I really feel like I have been hit by a truck and have mobility points attributable to accidents.”
He advised CTV Information he would love the officers who arrested him suspended with out pay, and finally charged for the way in which he was handled.
Sgt. Steve Addison, a spokesperson for the Vancouver Police Division, confirmed the officers remained on lively obligation as of Monday. B.C.’s Workplace of the Police Grievance Commissioner has been notified in regards to the incident, and can be conducting an unbiased evaluate of the circumstances of Barnett’s arrest.
Addison mentioned police have been engaged on “dependable info” {that a} suspect in a violent dwelling invasion in Calgary was close to Richards Avenue and Pacific Boulevard, the place Barnett was strolling his buddy’s canine.
An Emergency Response Staff was deployed over issues the suspect is perhaps armed with a gun.
Addison mentioned Barnett “bore a resemblance” to the suspect they have been in search of, however didn’t clarify why officers determined to make use of power whereas arresting him. He mentioned that will be a part of the OPCC’s evaluate.
“Clearly a really unlucky set of circumstances,” Addison advised CTV Information on Monday.
“We predict it is actually vital that Workplace of the Police Grievance Commissioner conduct an unbiased evaluate of the entire circumstances right here to find out precisely what occurred, and we totally assist that.”
Authorities have acknowledged that Barnett was wrongfully arrested, however Addison advised the error was recognized “inside minutes” of him being taken into custody.
Along with the apologies supplied by officers on the time of Barnett’s arrest, Addison mentioned senior officers with the Vancouver Police Division have since prolonged apologies of their very own.
The suspect officers have been looking for – 47-year-old Dean Patrick Gallant – was arrested the identical day close to BC Kids’s Hospital. One other suspect wished in reference to the Calgary dwelling invasion, 35-year-old Tinesha Lee Redwood, was additionally taken into custody Sunday morning in downtown Vancouver.
Each suspects are dealing with a number of prices, together with break and enter, assault and theft.
With information from CTV Information Vancouver’s Spencer Harwood
