Officer denies excessive force, racial slurs

Civil trial hears that black driver refused to co-operate with cop

A Hamilton police officer involved in an altercation with a black preacher testified Wednesday the incident escalated because the man became angry and refused to comply with repeated requests to provide basic driver and vehicle information.

Const. Ian Milburn denied he used excessive force, racial slurs or threatened to punch Rikki Jeremiah in the face during a late-night police stop in Hamilton’s downtown six years ago.

Jeremiah, a 50-year-old black preacher with the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Hamilton Mountain, is suing Milburn and four other Hamilton police officers for assault, false arrest and violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms over an altercation that took place early on Feb. 13, 2012.

Jeremiah alleges he was lawfully seated in his car at the corner of King Street East and West Avenue North talking with a friend at around 1:40 a.m., when police surrounded his car, dragged him from the front seat without any reasonable cause and then pinned him on the ground with a knee in his groin.

Milburn told court on the third day of the trial he was part of the ACTION team, which provides directed patrol resources to areas of higher crime. That night, he was driving a marked police van back to the Central station with his four team members near the end of their shift.

As he came to the intersection of King Street and West Avenue, he noticed a Chrysler car on the opposite side of the intersection. It didn’t have a licence plate on the front and two men were inside the vehicle, although he testified he couldn’t tell the age or ethnicity of the men.

Milburn said he was suspicious because of the area, the time of day, the lack of a front plate and his knowledge that Chryslers are popular targets for theft, so he rolled up beside the driver’s window, where Jeremiah was seated.

Milburn testified he repeatedly asked Jeremiah for driver, insurance and vehicle information, but Jeremiah became argumentative, raised his voice and kept talking over him.

“He kept saying he hadn’t done anything wrong and ‘Why do I have to show you my licence?’ ” Milburn said. “Typically, if a driver is evasive or repeats the question, it’s a stalling tactic.”

Milburn said he eventually grabbed hold of Jeremiah’s left arm to try to get him out of the vehicle. He then reached into the car with his other arm and put it around Jeremiah’s head and neck.

Jeremiah got out of the vehicle on his own, Milburn testified, then he had to be taken to the ground so that handcuffs could be put on. He said he never placed his knee on Jeremiah’s groin or head.

He also said race played no role in the events of that night.

Under cross-examination, however, Milburn acknowledged that the handcuffs were put on Jeremiah while he was standing up and that Milburn then forced him to the ground by tripping him.

He also acknowledged Jeremiah co-operated by rolling down his window, didn’t prevent police from opening the car door, didn’t attempt to flee and didn’t initiate any of the physical contact with police.

Bob Munroe, Jeremiah’s lawyer, asked Milburn if it occurred to him that Jeremiah and his black friend might be afraid because they were facing five armed police officers.

“I was more thinking about how afraid I was,” Milburn replied.

Milburn also acknowledged he didn’t make any mention in his notes, which were written after the incident, that Jeremiah and his friend were black but that he didn’t omit it on purpose.

“Leaving it out of my notes doesn’t change that he’s a black man,” Milburn said.

The trial continues Thursday.