Toronto police accused of using excessive force during arrest
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 8, 2008 | 9:56 AM ET
CBC News
Related
Audio
- Philip Lee-Shanaok reports for CBC Radio (Runs: 1:25)
- Play: Real Media »
Two black men say five Toronto police officers used excessive force and racial profiling during a downtown arrest nearly two years ago — and they have the tape to prove it.
Irshad Ahmed and Omar Betty are on trial for failing to stop and obstructing police. They want charges against them thrown out.
The pair maintain that when they were stopped by police in February 2006, they were willing to co-operate.
Police pulled over Ahmed and Betty as they left the Entertainment District in a Cadillac Escalade.
Betty immediately called his lawyer and the sounds of the arrest were captured on his lawyer's voicemail.
On the tape, played in court, Ahmed sounds like he is obeying police orders to get out of the car. "I'm coming out sir. I'm opening the door," he says.
Police smash the window and use a Taser on Ahmed.
Five officers dragged Ahmed out of the car and handcuffed him on the ground.
Const. David Rubini testified that this was a high-risk take-down, a dangerous situation for officers.
There had been reports of an assault and a vehicle of the same description had already refused to stop for police. Rubini said Ahmed failed to comply with police demands to turn off the engine and get out of the car.
"They absolutely overreacted and they absolutely used more force than was required in the situation by Tasering him," said Emma Rhodes, Ahmed's lawyer.
Voices uttering threats are heard at the end of tape, while Ahmed was already handcuffed and on the ground. None of the officers recall who said what.
The trial continues.
Share Tools
Latest Toronto News Headlines
- Truck dangles on overpass after 401 crash in Ajax
- A section of Highway 401 is closed for hours after a tractor-trailer collides with an SUV, slides off the highway and hangs perilously over the roadway below. more »
- GO Transit train damaged by debris on tracks
- A GO Transit train is damaged after striking a short track section that appears to have been deliberately laid over the rails. more »
- Everest team unable to bring down Toronto woman's body
- Bad weather has hampered the recovery team that is attempting to bring down the body of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest. more »
- Man shot dead in Oshawa
- A man in is mid-30s is dead after he was shot at a house in Oshawa on Friday night. more »
Top News Headlines
- Teen struck by lightning in Ottawa dies
- The victim of a Friday lightning strike during a storm in east Ottawa has died, CBC News has learned. more »
- Montreal protesters march in peaceful defiance
- The clanging of pots and pans sounded throughout Montreal's downtown core Saturday night and into early Sunday morning, as thousands of protesters marched on in peaceful — but loud — defiance of Bill 78. more »
- Syrian children massacred by the dozens, UN says
- More than 90 people have been killed by regime forces in a district of central Syria, with the head of the UN team in the country confirming at least 32 children and 60 adults were killed in an artillery attack. more »
- Missing Winnipeg children found in Mexico
- Two Winnipeg children reported missing and possibly in Mexico have been found alive, according to unofficial reports from an agency that works to find missing people. more »
- Truck dangles on overpass after 401 crash in Ajax
- Everest victim's husband says family not seeking government help
- Brampton family seeks woman missing since Thursday
- GO Transit train damaged by debris on tracks
- Everest team unable to bring down Toronto woman's body
- 'Save me' last words of Mount Everest climber
- Timmins fire crews aided by calmer winds
- Man shot dead in Oshawa
- Serial carjacker gets life term for fatal crash

