The Independent Investigations Office has found two Prince George RCMP officers committed no offence when dealing with a suspect who was stabbed in the neck during an arrest.
Among the issues the civilian-based watchdog considered was whether they ought to have apprehended the man when he displayed the knife during a Dec. 8 2014 confrontation in the city's downtown.
The IIO concluded the officers made the right move in arresting the man because the safety of the public and the officers were at risk and there was reason to believe he was about to flee.
The suspect alleged he was punched and kicked, as well as Tasered.
But medical records showed the only injury was the stab wound, and the suspect also admitted he was drunk and high on methampetamine and hallucinating at the time.
He also claimed he was put into a wheelchair and pushed around downtown, delaying his transport and causing a stroke in the process.
The IIO also found that allegation groundless, noting he was at the hospital within 15 minutes of a call to 911 and taken there by ambulance.
He was one of three people police had checked for warrants near the corner of Third Avenue and Dominion Street shortly before 11 p.m. while they were keeping an eye out for drug dealing in the area.
He had raised their suspicions when he masked himself with his bandana and started walking away.
Although not grounds for arrest, "police are not prohibited from engaging people in conversation and asking for their names," IIO chief civilian director Richard Rosenthal said in the report, issued this week.
Mistakenly believing there were no warrants out for his arrest, the officer let him go initially.
But another officer then told him there indeed was a warrant and the suspect was told to stop.
The IIO's account of what happened afterwards was based largely on interviews investigators conducted with the suspect and one of the arresting officers.
Other witnesses did not get good views of what happened, the report indicates.
The suspect said he pulled the knife and told them to stay away when officers had tried to place handcuffs on him.
He said he was thrown to the ground with an officer landing on top of him and when that happened: "My knife kind of folded into me and went into my throat."
The one arresting officer said the suspect had pulled his right hand from his coat pocket and place his hand up near the left side of his face as the other officer was taking hold of his left side.
He also said he hear a distinct "click" sound and the other officer call out "pepper spray."
When he closed the distance to help prevent him from fleeing, the suspect's arm then came back down to his right side and the officer's leg was cut.
The officer backed off slightly to check his injury while the other officer and the suspect continued to grapple.
He then saw the cut on the suspect's neck and yelled to his partner that he had a knife.
He then performed a leg sweep, sending all three to the ground and then heard metal hitting the ground.
His said his partner then told him he had thrown away the knife and began applying pressure to the suspect's neck to stop the bleeding.
As is his right under the Charter, the other officer did not provide a statement.
