Alfred Baillargeon showed CBC News his swollen, bruised arm in a January interview. The Dettah, N.W.T., elder said his arm wasn't that way before he was put into RCMP custody. (CBC)

No charges will be laid against Yellowknife RCMP following an investigation into a complaint of police brutality involving an elderly man from nearby Dettah, N.W.T.

Alfred Baillargeon, 74, laid the complaint earlier this year, after he reported severe bruising to his arm when he woke up from an RCMP detachment cell in January.

An internal investigation from the Crown prosecutor's office has determined that police did not use excessive force on Baillargeon.

"Action taken by the officers involved was both justified by provisions of the Criminal Code and ... fell within the policy guidlines of the RCMP," Sgt. Brad Kaeding told CBC News.

'I should have been the first one to get the letter, not the media.'—Beatrice Sangris

Sgt. Cliff McKay, who took part in the investigation, said that based on interviews with Baillargeon, family members and the officers involved, as well as surveillance videos from the cells that night, an altercation between police and the elder did appear to have occurred when he was arrested for public intoxication.

"The injuries are consistant with the events that took place that evening involving the officers," McKay said.

Baillargeon admitted that he had been drinking on the night of the incident. He said he could not remember how he was injured, but recalled he didn't have the injuries before he was put into police custody.

Baillargeon's daughter, Beatrice Sangris, said she was disappointed that RCMP did not contact her family about the Crown's decision.

"I should have been the first one to get the letter, not the media," she said.

Sangris said she was also surprised by the story because her father had decided months ago to withdraw his complaint against the RCMP, citing the Dene traditional laws of forgiveness.

Regardless of the outcome, Sangris said she doesn't regret urging her father to lay the complaint.

RCMP say that while they were not at fault, they would like to meet with Baillargeon and his family to answer any questions they may still have.