An innocent man who was shot with a rubber bullet after being mistaken for a burglary suspect last week wants Vancouver police officers involved in his illegal arrest to be held accountable.
Elijah Barnett told CTV News that he was suddenly knocked to the ground last Wednesday while walking his friend’s dog in the city’s Yaletown neighborhood.
“At first I thought I had been run over by a car, but then I realized I was swarmed by police and K9 forces,” Burnett said in a statement. I did.”
Officers also fired two low-lethal ARWEN rounds. Burnett shared a photo on her social media showing a large purple bruise on her abdomen and buttocks after her arrest.
He claimed he was handcuffed and held for more than two hours because he did not carry a wallet or ID to prove his identity.
“After they realized their mistake, I was ‘dusted off’ and sent off with a blatant apology,” Burnett wrote. “I have cuts, scrapes and bruises all over my body. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck and I have trouble moving because of my injuries.”
He told CTV News that he wants the police officer who arrested him to be suspended without pay and ultimately to be charged with how he was treated.
Sergeant Vancouver Police spokesperson Steve Addison confirmed the officer was on active duty as of Monday.The office of BC’s Police Complaints Commissioner has been notified of the incident and has issued an independent inquiry into the status of Barnett’s arrest. We are planning to conduct a review.
Addison said he was working on “reliable information” that the suspect in the violent home invasion in Calgary was near Richards Street and Pacific Boulevard, where Barnett was walking his friend’s dog. rice field.
An emergency response team was deployed over concerns that the suspect might be armed with a gun.
Addison said it “looks like” the suspect Barnett was looking for, but did not explain why officers decided to use force in arresting him. said it would be part of the review of
“Obviously it’s a very unfortunate set of circumstances,” Addison told CTV News on Monday.
“We believe it is very important that the Police Complaints Commission conduct an independent inquiry into all the circumstances here in order to determine exactly what happened, and we fully support it. .”
Authorities have admitted that Barnett was wrongfully arrested, but Addison suggested the mistake was identified “within minutes” of his being taken into custody.
In addition to the apology offered by officers at the time of Burnett’s arrest, Addison said senior Vancouver police officers have since developed their own apologies.
The suspect police were searching for – 47-year-old Dean Patrick Gallant – was arrested on the same day near the BC Children’s Hospital. Another of her wanted suspects, Tinesha Lee Redwood, 35, who was wanted in connection with the Calgary burglary, was also detained in downtown Vancouver on Sunday morning.
Both suspects face multiple charges, including burglary, assault and robbery.
CTV News Vancouver’s Spencer Harwood File
