Alleged victim’s family speaks out after Toronto cop charged with assault
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit announced Tuesday that Toronto police Const. Michael Theriault has been charged in connection with “serious injuries” suffered by a 19-year-old in Whitby in December 2016.
An off-duty cop outside his jurisdiction. A young Black man allegedly beaten with a metal pipe. A family making accusations of racial profiling and a mishandled police investigation.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit announced Tuesday that Toronto police Const. Michael Theriault has been charged in connection with “serious injuries” suffered by a 19-year-old in Whitby in December.
The SIU, which investigates deaths, serious injuries or alleged sexual assaults involving police, has not released the name of the 19-year-old, or any details of the incident.
But Leisa Lewis has told the Star that the young man is her son, Dafonte Miller.
“I can’t picture this happening to a group of white kids walking through a neighbourhood,” Lewis said. “So I do think race played some part in it.”
Article Continued Below
Theriault, who was arrested Tuesday and released on bail, faces charges of aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, and public mischief.
Neither Toronto police nor the SIU would comment on the events that led to the charges, but Julian Falconer, a Toronto lawyer hired by the man’s family, outlined his client’s version of what led to Miller’s injuries and Theriault’s eventual arrest. None of the allegations have been proven in court, and Miller’s mother said he is still too traumatized by the incident to talk about it with reporters.
The incident began in the early hours of Dec. 28, 2016, Falconer said. Miller and two friends were walking to the house of another friend, not far from the home Miller shares with his family.
Theriault, whom Falconer described as white, was in the garage of his family’s home when Miller and his friends passed by. The SIU confirmed in its press release that Theriault was off-duty at the time.
Falconer said Theriault identified himself as a police officer and asked the young men where they lived and what they were doing in the neighbourhood. When Miller and his friends continued walking, Theriault chased them, Falconer said. Miller’s friends ran away, but Miller was punched, kicked, and struck in the face repeatedly with a metal pipe, according to Falconer.
Falconer said that Miller called 911 during the alleged beating, but that when the operator answered, Theriault took the phone and said he was a police officer who had made an arrest.
Theriault later told Durham police that Miller had been beating him with a metal pipe, Falconer said.
When Durham police arrived at the scene, according to the SIU press release, they arrested a 19-year-old, who was later taken to hospital and “diagnosed with serious injuries.”
Falconer said Miller suffered a broken nose, broken orbital bone, fractured right wrist and an eye so badly damaged that it will have to be removed.
Photos taken by Miller’s family, and provided to the Star by Falconer, show Miller in a hospital bed, his left eye swollen after surgery.
Miller was charged on Dec. 28 with possession of a weapon, two counts of assault with a weapon, theft under $5,000 and possession of marijuana, court officials in Durham told the Star.
The charges indicate that the weapon in question was a “pole,” court officials said.
Court records show that all charges against Miller were dropped in May, without a trial, at the request of the Crown attorney.
“Dafonte wasn’t doing anything wrong,” said Falconer. “There was no basis for this individual to be in any way confronted by the off-duty officer.”
Officers at the scene “interviewed multiple people,” said Durham police spokesperson Dave Selby.
“It would be inappropriate to discuss our investigative findings or any details of the incident, given the current charges before the court against the off-duty officer,” Selby added.
In its press release, the SIU said it was informed of the Dec. 28 incident by the alleged victim’s lawyer four months after it took place. Falconer said the fact that it was his office who had to contact the SIU — as opposed to Durham or Toronto police — raises questions about police accountability.
Under Ontario’s Police Services Act, which regulates law enforcement in the province, a chief of police must “notify the SIU immediately of an incident involving one or more of his or her police officers that may reasonably be considered to fall within the investigative mandate of the SIU.”
The SIU says it “will not normally investigate off-duty police officers acting in the course of their private lives,” but an investigation will be conducted if an off-duty officer identifies themselves as a member of the police during the incident, or if police equipment or property is involved.
Asked why Durham police did not contact the police watchdog, Selby said “it is the responsibility of the police service that employs the (involved) officer to contact the SIU.”
Toronto police spokesperson Mark Pugash said he “can’t comment on someone else’s investigation. This is the SIU’s investigation.”
Pugash also refused to comment on the general rules for contacting the SIU.
The responsibility to contact the SIU should lie with whichever police force is first notified of an incident, said former SIU director Howard Morton.
“They might decide to contact the police service that the officer is a member of, to have them contact the SIU, but I was always of the view that, because (police) have to contact us right away, then it’s whatever police service is (initially) notified,” Morton added.
Pugash said Theriault has been suspended with pay. Salary disclosure information made public by the government of Ontario shows that a Const. Michael James Theriault of Toronto police made $102,771.72 in 2016.
Theriault is scheduled to appear in court in Oshawa on Aug. 10.
Lewis said she still sees the emotional toll the injuries have taken on her son.
“He goes minute by minute,” she said. “He will have an OK moment but then he will have a breakdown … He’s still scared. He’s still in that moment. To him it’s still fresh.”
Before the alleged beating, Miller was a funny, outgoing young man, Lewis said.
He loved to crack jokes with his family. He played basketball and wrote rap and R&B music. He was talking about going to college for mechanical engineering.
But Miller is quieter now, Lewis said. He’s doesn’t write music anymore or talk about going to college.
“I just hope that my son gets justice for what happened to him,” said Lewis.
“Then he can heal and go back to being my fun-loving kid … making plans and dreaming and talking about things he’s going to accomplish.”
Comments
Post a Comment