Man claims police brutality during arrest
Man taken down in convenience store when suspected of driving stolen car
A man who was tackled and held down by multiple Edmonton police officers at a Circle K convenience store after being accused of stealing his own vehicle has filed a complaint with Edmonton Police Services’ professional standards branch about police brutality and racial profiling.
James-dean Sauter stopped to buy a drink and mints on his way home from babysitting a friend’s children the evening of May 14 at the 11615 104 Ave. store. Officers entered the store, said “That’s him!” and told him he was being arrested for driving a stolen vehicle, according to the complaint. Sauter’s licence plate had been stolen and swapped with a fake.
“This is obviously mistaken identity, I was trying to proceed to produce my driver’s licence,” Sauter said.
But officers grabbed him and threw him down. He said they slammed his head to the floor multiple times, wiped a boot across his face, pulled his hair and put a boot in his mouth, slipped a bag over his head, laughed at him and hog-tied him during the course of his arrest.
“After the boot was taken out of my mouth ... my feet are already tied to my hands, I was very scared,” he said. “They pulled (the bag) against my neck, as a way to silence me ... I started crying: ‘I can’t breathe, please stop, I can’t breathe!’ ”
Sauter is a person of colour of Black, Indigenous, Latin, European and East Asian descent. He said he has a heart condition and is immunocompromised.
No charges against him were filed.
Josh Powell, a bystander, captured a portion of the altercation on his phone.
“Something wasn’t really adding up, the way he was saying, ‘Check my pocket,’ ” Powell said. “He didn’t have any time to really explain himself.”
But while he was filming, police arrested Powell and charged him with obstructing a police officer. The charge was dropped Wednesday afternoon.
Edmonton Police Services said in a statement Wednesday eight officers present at the arrest are subject to the professional standards branch investigation. All officers involved are still on active duty.
“At this time, it is too early to determine any changes to the duty status of the officers. As per standard procedure, duty status is evaluated on an ongoing basis as the investigation unfolds,” Cheryl Voordenhout, EPS spokeswoman, said in a statement.
Sauter’s family has been in law enforcement for three generations. His brother is a detective in Edmonton.
Sauter said the officers laughed at him as he was being carried with his hands and feet tied together to the car. They told him he looked ridiculous and kept calling him a “baby.” He was in pain.
“It was like that they almost enjoyed what just happened to me. It just felt sadistic ... and they were getting joy out of it.”
At the station, he said he wasn’t offered medical attention for hours, although he had a lump on his head, bruises, cuts, swelling and was in shock and in pain. No charges were filed and he was released. Sauter said he now has a curved spine and needs physiotherapy because of the arrest. He said he has a migraine, is being monitored for brain trauma, nerve damage and PTSD.
Powell was not expecting to be arrested when he pulled out his cellphone and began recording.
He said an officer tried to take his phone, but he locked it.
Powell said the officer grabbed his hoodie, brought him to the ground, and he was dragged out of the store while his pants were falling off.
“They almost made me feel terrible for what I did,” he said. “I felt like I was in the wrong, just because of the way they were talking down to me, and the way they held me in the cell, and the way they aggressively took me down.”
Powell has also filed a complaint through the professional standards branch.
It was like that they almost enjoyed what just happened to me. It just felt sadistic.