Edmonton Police Watch

EDMONTON — Two Edmonton police constables have been waiting nearly six years to hear the end of allegations they beat a 17-year-old runaway before handing him back to his group home.

The incident dates back to late 2003.

Medical records examined at a police internal disciplinary hearing Tuesday show the young man suffered a fractured toe, scratches to his face and a fractured jaw.

A doctor who saw his injuries told him he looked like he “got beat up by a gang,” the young man told the hearing.

He can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Constables Cody Zielie and Richard Abbott are each facing one count of unlawful or unnecessary use of authority for allegedly applying too much force when they tackled and handcuffed the boy.

The case was delayed, first for nine months while Crown prosecutors decided criminal charges wouldn’t stand. Then, when the police chief ruled charges under the Police Act wouldn’t stand either, the matter was appealed to the civilian Law Enforcement Review Board.

The board had the file 24 months before ordering the chief to refer the matter to a disciplinary hearing.

Now one witness, the boy’s mother, has died. Another, Const. Shannon Cross, the only uniformed witness at the scene during the arrest, moved away and couldn’t be located for Tuesday’s hearing.

The incident started shortly after 1 a.m. on Dec. 11, 2003. Two police officers, Constables Darren Rankin and Aubrey Zalaski, found the young man and a friend walking near a Boston Pizza at 118th Avenue and 101st Street. His friend took off running while he stayed, and when Rankin and Zalaski stopped to talk with him, they found out he was listed as missing from a nearby group home.

He turned and ran.

Both officers gave chase on foot but soon lost him. Other nearby officers heard the chase over their radios and joined in.

Zielie, a 12-year-police officer then with the tactical squad, was monitoring an undercover drug bust that night just a few blocks away. He saw the youth run past and gave chase.

Abbott, a seven-year-member, also joined in, caught up to the youth and jumped on his shoulders to bring him down, he testified.

That’s where accounts separate.

The youth testified he stopped and put his hands behind his head to surrender before he was tackled.

He said he did not resist arrest, and that the officers punched his head and deliberately rubbed snow in his face.

As they were walking him back to the patrol car, he said, one of the officers said something like, “ ‘I don’t like people like you,’ ” and kneed him in the eye.

Abbott and Zielie both testified the youth was kicking, flailing his arms and clawing to get away. Zielie said he put his knee on the youth’s shoulder blade, then his hand on his head and pinned him to try to control him.

He said he grabbed the youth’s right arm to help handcuff him.

“There was nothing unusual about this arrest,” Abbott said. “On a scale of one to 10 for an arrest following a footchase, this was closer to a one.”

Other police witnesses testified they saw nothing unusual after he was handcuffed and saw no evidence of any injuries.

Cross testified earlier that she helped subdue the youth by grabbing onto his legs and getting the handcuffs on. She said there were headstuns applied to the youth while he was down to try to control him. That testimony from the review board appeal was read into the record.

The young man’s mother looked out her apartment window to find the officers on top of her son that night, she told a police investigator before she died.

“One had their knee right on his head, on the right side of his face,” she said. “The other one was holding him, giving him shots (punches).”

The youth, who has fetal alcohol syndrome and was addicted to crack cocaine at the time, has since beat the addiction, he told the hearing. He’s now playing soccer and living on disability support from the province.

Closing arguments are scheduled for Wednesday.

via Two Edmonton cops testify about beating allegations.

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