The provincial police watchdog cleared three Prince George RCMP officers of any criminal offence stemming from a March 8 incident involving a man who was tasered.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) was called in more than two months after the incident occurred at the behest of a 30-year-old man who said he suffered a severe head injury after he had been tasered by a police officer.
IIO chief civilian director Richard Rosenthal determined that although the man suffered head injuries, including a skull fracture, they occurred prior to contact with police and paramedics.
"I do not consider that any officer may have committed an offence under any enactment and will not be making a report to Crown counsel," Rosenthal said in his report.
Citing privacy regulations, the IIO did not release the name of the man who was injured or anyone involved with the investigation.
The incident began when a family member of the 30-year-old diabetic man heard a thud in the home and found the man unconscious on the floor, possibly due to low blood sugar. The family member called paramedics and the arrived at the home soon after accompanied by firefighters.
By the time the first responders arrived, the 30-year-old was conscious, but agitated, according to witness statements provided to the IIO.
The man then grabbed a knife, described by the family member as a butter knife, by a paramedic and firefighter as a steak knife and by another firefighter as a medium-sized butcher knife and pointed it towards the first responders. When the man didn't immediately put the knife down, the paramedics and firefighters called for police back up and when the man refused to drop the weapon a police officer used a taser and then wrestled the man to the ground.
The family member said police used excessive force when making the arrest and bashed the man's head to the ground.
The man was then taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a skull fracture and other injuries.
According to the primary care physician's statement to the IIO, the skull fracture on the back of his head likely occurred when the man fell the first time, possibly due to low blood sugar. That injury could have resulted in immediate swelling around the brain, which could have led to the state of confusion the man was in when first responders arrived.
The 30-year-old man told IIO investigators he had no recollection of the entire incident.
