‘Next steps’ ahead for officer cleared of impaired driving

Gatineau police will evaluate the “next steps” for a suspended officer after he was acquitted Friday of four-year-old drunk-driving charges.

Const. Charles Carpentier was arrested by fellow officers on patrol on Oct. 15, 2014, after a car crashed into two unoccupied, parked vehicles at around 6 a.m.

Carpentier wasn’t on duty at the time.

Police at the scene said the other vehicles received minor damage and no injuries were reported.

Carpentier was taken to a Sûreté du Québec police station where he was tested and his driver’s licence suspended for 24 hours before he was released.

He was acquitted of impaired driving in a Gatineau courtroom on Friday.

The officer has not resumed duties, Gatineau police said in a news release. Following the verdict, the release added, the police service will “evaluate the file for the next steps.”

Carpentier was also the subject of a complaint when he and another Gatineau officer were accused of using excessive force in a 2012 incident.

The Quebec police ethics commission heard the public complaint against Carpentier and fellow officer Pierre-Francois Blais, alleging they used excessive force, abusive language, showed a lack of respect and made derogatory comments about a man’s ethnic origin or religion during a drug bust in August 2012.

Carpentier was found guilty in a July 2014 hearing and was suspended six days without pay. He has been an officer since 2008.