Woman who complained against police has charges dropped

Charges have been dropped against a Calgary woman who alleged two Calgary police officers used excessive force to arrest her last year.

The October 2019 incident was captured on video, showing the officers pinning the woman to the floor in her home, with one pressing his knee into her back.

In the video, Tara Yaschuk repeatedly tells the officers, “I can’t breathe.”

Yaschuk filed a complaint under the Police Act last month and has requested that charges be laid against both officers. Yaschuk’s lawyer, David Chow, said she hoped “to support the public outcry for police reform.”

But shorty after she filed her complaint last month, Calgary police Chief Mark Neufeld said in a news conference that the matter remained before the courts, with “an outstanding prosecution in relation to that.”

Chow said Yaschuk hadn’t been made aware she was facing charges at that point and “was not only shocked that she had been charged, but shocked about the manner in which she was made aware of the allegation.

“After following up on Chief Neufeld’s comments, Ms. Yaschuk learned that an information alleging assaulting a police officer was laid against her on March 6, 2020, (more than four months after the incident),” Chow said in a statement. “On review of disclosure provided to her on June 11, 2020, it was confirmed that the police never served her with a summons or notice that she had a matter before the court.”

After reviewing the case, Crown prosecutors determined last Friday the charge should be withdrawn, according to Chow.

During the incident, two officers “aggressively interacted” with Yaschuk “without any provocation, whatsoever,” according to her Police Act complaint, which identified them as Const. M. Lavictoire and Const. G. Desjardins.

The two officers came to Yaschuk’s home around 1:30 a.m. after she phoned 911 to report a theft, believing her partner’s vehicle had been stolen off the family’s driveway. But while speaking to an operator, her son entered the room.

Yaschuk passed the phone to her son, who explained to the operator that he and a friend had borrowed the vehicle. He told the operator he had just returned it to the driveway.

But as Yaschuk’s son explained the misunderstanding to the 911 operator, his stepfather scolded him, making a “hyperbolic comment” along the lines of “I’m going to strangle you,” according to Yaschuk’s complaint.

Lavictoire and Desjardins arrived at the home a short time later and “pushed their way” in, according to the complaint.

In the video, the officer identified as Desjardins states he is “going to arrest somebody,” before grabbing Yaschuk’s left wrist and taking her to the ground.

The officer identified in the complaint as Lavictoire joins Desjardins by pinning her upper body to the ground, using his own weight to restrain her. Yaschuk can be heard in the video repeatedly asking why she was being arrested.

One replies, “assault police officer.” As the officer identified as Desjardins sits on Yaschuk’s legs, Lavictoire “is weighed-down on her with his knee on her back (perhaps near or on her neck),” according to the complaint.

With her face pressed to the floor, Yaschuk is repeatedly heard on the video telling the officers “I can’t breathe.”

Calgary police spokesman Corwin Odland confirmed Tuesday that charges against Yaschuk had been withdrawn. Odland cited “delays related to COVID” as partly why those charges took longer to make it into the system once filed.

Yaschuk’s allegations have not been proven in court and remain under investigation. No charges have been laid as a result of her complaint.

Odland said both officers involved remain on active duty.