A video played during the sentencing hearing of a man who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and assaulting a police officer shows Winnipeg police officers pinning him down and beating him in a parking lot.
Cody Bousquet was handed a sentence of 11 months — equal to the time he has already served, which means he'll have no more jail time.
Judge Ray Wyant said he did not see Bousquet resisting arrest as police had claimed, said Bousquet's lawyer, Dan Manning.
The video, played Thursday in court, shows a man identified as Bousquet about to go down on his knees when an officer runs over and shoves him down, then gives him a kick.
Bousquet is quickly surrounded by police, some kneeing him while he is lying down and being handcuffed.
Much of the video shows four officers pinning him down, while some punch and knee him further. Manning said officers also struck Bousquet twice with a stun gun.
The next day, he was unrecognizable because of his injuries, Manning told CBC News.
"When I saw him that morning, I honestly did not recognize him. His face was swollen to twice its normal size. His eyes were black. There was blood around his face — dried blood.
"It was shocking. Of course, at the time I had no idea what had happened."
Manning is discussing with his client the possibility of filing a formal complaint with the Law Enforcement Review Agency, which investigates citizen complaints against police officers.
The video of the arrest was from a security camera mounted on PartSource, an automotive parts retailer at Isabel Street and Notre Dame Avenue in the city's Centennial neighbourhood.
The video was recorded last February after Bousquet led police on a chase in a stolen pickup truck, which ended in the parking lot, court was told.
Deputy Chief Doug Webster "has initiated a review of this matter" and was not providing any comment on Friday, said a police spokesperson.
Later on Friday, the police department issued a news release saying the RCMP had been called in to investigate. The release also confirmed that a relative of Chief Keith McCaskill is one of the officers seen on the video.
"Chief McCaskill has removed himself from the matter due to a family relationship," the release said.
"As the investigation has been now turned over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Winnipeg Police Service will not be issuing any further statement on the matter at this time," the department said.
The release did not say when the RCMP were asked to investigate or elaborate on the nature of the investigation.
Marc Pellerin, vice-president of the Winnipeg Police Association, said the actions of the officers might be viewed as appropriate.
"You'll note inside of a very brief period of time [the suspect] eventually becomes handcuffed," Pellerin said. "And once he's handcuffed the officers stand up and back off.
"So it seems to me you have a bunch of officers saying, 'Objective achieved.'"
'I don't think any law abiding citizen needs to fear the Winnipeg police service.'— Mike Pagtakhan, Winnipeg councillor
City Coun. Mike Pagtakhan, who heads the protection and community services committee that oversees the police, came to the defence of the force and the officers in the video.
Pagtakhan said his interpretation of the video is that it shows police apprehending a man who is struggling against them.
"I think that when police officers apprehend an individual they do so in a safe manner and they'll try and contain the individual to make sure that they comply," Pagtakhan said. "If you're unco-operative, there might be a little bit of force, but [that] depends on the situation.
"I don't think any law-abiding citizen needs to fear the Winnipeg Police Service."
While the Winnipeg police did not identify the relative of Chief McCaskill involved in the arrest, his nephew, Const. Ryan Law, is reportedly one of the officers seen on the tape.
In a separate incident, Law was arrested and charged with aggravated assault last June in connection with an alleged assault in November 2008.
A suspected car thief was in an interview room at the Public Safety Building when Law allegedly entered the room and kicked the man in the stomach.
There was no indication the victim was physically resisting police, prosecutor Kerry Unruh — one of eight independent special prosecutors assigned by the province to handle criminal cases involving police officers — said at the time.
The victim in that case, Henry Lavallee, held a news conference in July. Supported by the Southern Chiefs Organization, an advocacy group for First Nations people in southern Manitoba, Lavallee said the attack was unprovoked.
The 45-year-old said he was lying on the floor in a holding cell when an officer came in and kicked him hard in the stomach. Lavallee said he started bleeding from his mouth, nose and rectum and needed emergency surgery. He suffered a ruptured colon and spent several weeks recovering in hospital.
Lavallee had been arrested for mischief after he and another man tried to steal a case of beer out of a car.
Because of the Lavallee case, Law has been on administrative leave pending an internal hearing to determine his employment status.