234943

Canada  

Tasered, stomped by cop

A Toronto police sergeant who stomped on and repeatedly Tasered a man during arrest has made his first appearance at a disciplinary hearing.

Sgt. Eduardo Miranda was charged with unlawful or unnecessary use of authority and discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act after a civilian police oversight agency investigation.

He did not enter a plea nor was the January incident that led to the charges described at the hearing.

However, the Office of the Independent Police Review Director laid out details of the allegations in a report last month. The agency found Miranda unjustified in deploying his stun gun six times on a man who was handcuffed and lying on the ground.

It also said the sergeant should not have directed other officers at the scene to interfere with a witness recording the arrest on his phone.

The witness, Waseem Khan, filed a complaint with the OIPRD, prompting the investigation.

Miranda told the agency that the man was acting aggressively, which warranted the use of the stun gun and blows, according to the report. He also denied trying to intimidate Khan, it said.

Khan's lawyer, Selwyn Pieters, said the Toronto man wants "some form of accountability for the officer."

"Any claim that the person who was on the ground was resisting arrest or assaultive to the police officers is completely obviated by what we saw in the video," he said outside police headquarters.

"Had there not been that video that Mr. Khan took, these police officers' word would have been against (that of) a homeless person, and unfortunately the court more likely would have believed the officers."

The video Khan shot on his cellphone shows several officers standing by a man lying face down on the street. Khan can be heard saying an officer used a stun gun on the man. The video appears to show the same officer stomping on the back of the man's leg.



More Canada News



229232