Update:
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Soldier charged with resisting arrest
Published Friday January 8th, 2010
A soldier who accused Fredericton police officers of brutality during his arrest last summer has been charged with resisting arrest during the incident.
The Daily Gleaner has learned that the RCMP filed charges against Luc Begin in Fredericton provincial court Thursday.
Begin, a private in the Canadian Armed Forces, faces two charges of obstruction stemming from the July 18 incident.
That's the day he said city police officers used excessive force and injured him.
The obstruction charges allege Begin resisted arrest and failed to identify himself to a police officer.
He faces four other charges: two of mischief and two of obstruction - again accusing him of resisting arrest and failing to identify himself. They stem from a separate incident alleged to have occurred a week earlier on July 10.
Const. Chantal Farrah, spokeswoman for the RCMP in New Brunswick, confirmed the charges were filed against Begin.
She said he will appear in court at a later date to enter a plea.
There was no word Thursday on whether any Fredericton police officer will face charges.
"That is a separate investigation which is still ongoing," Farrah said.
One police officer was suspended July 23 after a video of the arrest surfaced on the Internet. He was assigned to administrative duties in mid-September.
Begin complained of police brutality after the July 18 arrest in front of Sweetwaters bar on King Street.
Fredericton police Chief Barry MacKnight asked the Mounties to conduct an arm's-length investigation not only into the allegations against members of his department, but also to investigate Begin's conduct.
Begin has said he received back injuries, cuts and bruises and blacked out as a result of excessive police force during the July 18 arrest.
The Quebec-based soldier was celebrating his engagement to a Fredericton woman that night. He and a group of friends were refused entrance to the bar.
Begin has said that bar staff incorrectly fingered him as a problem customer from a prior visit to the club.
On July 10, there was a disturbance reported to Fredericton police. In that case, a man ran across the top of a cruiser parked in front of Sweetwaters and escaped arrest.
Begin said that on July 18 he was thrown to the ground by members of the police force after one of the officers said he recognized Begin from the July 10 incident.
"The only thing I remember is that I got thrown on the ground, getting the knee and kicked ... and an open-hand hit to the face and I lost consciousness. I've got broken vertebrae in my back," Begin told The Daily Gleaner in an interview several days after the incident.
Downtown resident Charles LeBlanc posted a video recording of Begin's arrest on YouTube.
The video appears to show one of the arresting officers using his knee to strike Begin's back at least three times before he was handcuffed and placed in the backseat of a police cruiser.
Begin has also filed a complaint against Ambulance New Brunswick.
He alleged that after the July 18 incident, a paramedic dismissed his health complaints and refused to transport him from the Queen Street police station to the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital for medical assessment. Ambulance New Brunswick has created a policy to help guide paramedics who are treating a patient who's in police custody.
The Daily Gleaner attempted to contact Begin through his fiancée's family Thursday evening, but no family members could be reached.
But wait - there's more.....
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City police officer charged with assault
Published Thursday January 14th, 2010
A Fredericton police officer has been charged with assault following an investigation into an allegation of police brutality during an arrest in the downtown last summer.
The Fredericton Police Force released a statement Wednesday, announcing that the RCMP filed the charge against Const. Stephen Stafford earlier in the day.
The city police department isn't commenting on the matter while it remains before the courts and inquiries were referred to the RCMP.
Const. Chantal Farrah, spokeswoman for the RCMP in New Brunswick, confirmed that investigations into the July 18 incident have now concluded.
"A charge of assault was filed today in Fredericton provincial court," she said.
Luc Begin, a private in the Canadian Armed Forces who levelled the accusations, faces two charges of obstruction of justice related to the incident.
Stafford didn't appear in court Wednesday. He's expected to attend at a later date to enter a plea.
The charge stems from the July 18 incident outside Sweetwaters bar on King Street.
Begin was celebrating his engagement to a city woman that night when he was arrested by police.
Begin accused officers of roughing him up and injuring him.
Fredericton police Chief Barry MacKnight asked the Mounties to conduct an investigation into the allegations against members of his department and into Begin's conduct.
The Mounties filed the charges against Begin on Jan. 7. The July 18 obstruction charges allege Begin resisted arrest and failed to identify himself to a police officer.
He faces four other charges - two of mischief and two of obstruction - stemming from a separate incident alleged to have occurred July 10.
In an interview with The Daily Gleaner last summer, Begin said he sustained back injuries, cuts and bruises and blacked out as a result of excessive police force during the arrest.
On July 10, there was a disturbance reported to Fredericton police. In that case, a man allegedly ran across the top of a cruiser parked in front of Sweetwaters and escaped arrest.
Begin said that on July 18 he was thrown to the ground by members of the police force after one of the officers said he recognized Begin from the July 10 incident.
Stafford was on duty at the time of the incident.
He was suspended July 23, two days after a public complaint was received by the force.
The complaint was filed after a video was posted online that appears to show an officer using his knee to strike Begin's back during the arrest.
On Sept. 14, he was reinstated and assigned to administrative duties. He remains on office duty.
