Officer testifies he delivered 2-3 knee strikes to man’s head, body
Pathologists were unable to determine whether the brain hemorrhage that killed Jordan Bruce Lafond was caused by a high-speed crash or blows inflicted by one or two Saskatoon police officers, an inquest into his death heard.
One officer, Sgt. Thomas Gresty, admitted delivering “two or three” knee strikes to the 21-year-old man’s head and upper body while helping another officer handcuff him, the coroner’s inquest heard Monday.
During their investigation into the Oct. 23, 2016 pursuit, police also developed “reason to suspect” Sgt. Kelly Olafson of using more force — a possible kick to the head — than he initially disclosed, the inquest heard.
“It appeared that a kicking motion or kneeing motion may have occurred, Saskatoon police Det. Sgt. Kory Ochitwa, who ultimately took control of the internal probe, testified in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench.
“I’m not saying that there wasn’t nor can I say that there was,” Ochitwa added while being crossexamined about what a recording of the fatal incident, shot from a police cruiser’s dashcam, depicts.
Ochitwa was the first of at least 18 witnesses scheduled to testify at the inquest, which is aimed at determining how Lafond died. The public hearing was delayed in March after one of the lawyers withdrew due to health reasons.
Presided over by Saskatoon law- yer Tim Hawryluk, the inquest is not intended to establish whether criminal acts were committed or if any of the people involved bear responsibility for Lafond’s death.
Instead, the five-woman and one-man jury is tasked with determining how Lafond died, as well as making any practical and implementable recommendations they deem necessary to prevent future deaths.
In his testimony, Ochitwa outlined how officers began pursuing the pickup truck in which Lafond was a passenger after at least two private citizens reported seeing a truck that had been reported stolen, along with firearms.
Police tried to stop the beige Ford F-150 near Avenue B and 19th Street West and ended up chasing it for several minutes before it crashed into a bollard and chainlink fence near the Shaw Centre, Ochitwa testified.
Four firearms — two shotguns and two rifles, all of them unloaded — were found in the truck, the inquest heard.
The man driving the truck, Reece Terrance Fiddler, survived. He was sentenced last year to four years in prison less 467 days in pre-trial custody for evading police causing bodily harm. He also received a five-year driving prohibition.
Saskatchewan prosecutors declined to lay any other criminal charges.
Officers found Lafond under the rear portion of the pickup truck, and Gresty reported observing “some resistance” as Olafson attempted to handcuff him, at which point he delivered the knee strikes, Ochitwa testified.
A police officer believed by Ochitwa to be Gresty can be heard yelling “stop resisting ” three times after the crash, according to dashcam footage of the incident. Lafond was subsequently observed to be unconscious with serious head injuries, the inquest heard.
“We felt that it was useful to learn, if we could, what caused that trauma,” Ochitwa testified before noting that the autopsy and subsequent tests by a neuropathologist came back inconclusive as to the cause of the head trauma.
Saskatoon police forensic identification officer Leslie Van Den Beuken, who documented the scene, testified under cross-examination that she later learned that a section of chain-link fence was found in the vehicle’s cab.
At the same time, Ochitwa testified, Olafson said in his initial statement that he stepped on Lafond’s hand while approaching the vehicle, though the video shows a “possible kicking motion” and Lafond’s body moving.
In the days following Lafond’s death, then-police chief Clive Weighill said officers found Lafond under the truck after the crash and “believed he was actively resisting ” when they tried taking him into custody.
Gresty and Olafson are among the witnesses scheduled to testify this week as the five-day inquest continues.