Driver left ‘motionless on ground’ after assault by cop

An incident in which an on-duty Toronto police sergeant assaulted a man in a Scarborough parking lot and then drove away, leaving the victim collapsed on the ground, came to light after an account from a bystander and Toronto Community Housing Corp. surveillance footage, according to recently filed court documents.

Last week, Sgt. Robert Goudie pleaded guilty to assaulting Hamza Sheikh, then 47, outside the man’s residence in October 2015, an incident that began with Goudie approaching Sheikh believing he had been driving while impaired.

In January 2016, Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) charged Goudie with assault causing bodily harm and failing to provide the necessaries of life; the latter charge was dropped at the request of the Crown prosecutor, while Goudie pleaded guilty to assault.

“The defendant’s application of force to Mr. Sheikh was unjustified and excessive,” reads an agreed statement of facts filed in court last week.

The veteran police officer has been given a conditional discharge, meaning he is now subject to six months’ probation, which includes a ban on contacting Sheikh. He was also ordered to pay a $100 victim surcharge to Sheikh.

Goudie has been suspended with pay from the Toronto Police Service since November 2015. Still, he made Ontario’s Sunshine List in 2016, earning $116,000.

Meaghan Gray, a spokesperson for the Toronto police, said in an email the suspension is under review now that the criminal case has concluded and the police service can proceed with a related disciplinary charge. Goudie faces one count of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act for being charged with a criminal offence.

According to the summary of facts filed in court, Goudie was alone on patrol just after 4 a.m. on Oct. 31, 2015, when he spotted Sheikh’s vehicle and believed he was an impaired driver.

Goudie, driving a marked police vehicle, followed him into the parking area near 10 Gordonridge Place, near Danforth and Brimley Rds., then approached Sheikh after he parked his car, the court document states.

Surveillance footage, though low quality and shot from a distance, captured a 33-second discussion between Goudie and Sheikh, who was standing near his car with the driver’s side door open.

Then, Goudie “took hold” of Sheikh and forced him to the ground on a grassy boulevard near the cars, then pinned him with his right knee for 20 seconds and “appeared to search him.”

Goudie got up off of Sheikh, shone his flashlight into the man’s vehicle, then removed a crutch from inside and “tossed it towards” Sheikh. Court heard that Sheikh had preexisting spinal injuries.

Sheikh “remained prone and motionless on the ground” at this time, according to the documents.

The officer then walked back to his car and drove off. Goudie never reported the stop or arrested Sheikh, although he had reasonable grounds to do so, according to the court documents.

“(Goudie) believed at that time that Mr. Sheikh was conscious,” according to the statement of facts.

Sheikh remained on the ground in the same position for 30 minutes, until a Toronto police car and ambulance arrived in response to an emergency call.

Paramedics found Sheikh on the ground wearing a neck brace, and noticed a strong odour of alcohol and signs of impairment.

The court documents do not explain who made the emergency call, but a document filed with the Toronto Police Services Board agenda last week states police and paramedics were summoned to the scene by a 4:13 a.m. call reporting an officer had assaulted a member of the public. Police and paramedics arrived at 4:34 a.m.

According to the police board document, which summarizes the internal probe that must take place after every SIU investigation, the officers who responded were then directed by a superior to leave and “the incident was abandoned without further investigation or documentation,” the report states.

That superior was later identified as Goudie, according to the police board document.

In an interview Monday, Goudie’s lawyer Gary Clewley vehemently disputed the contents of the Toronto police board document, saying that whoever wrote it “had nothing to do with the investigation.”

“I can tell you this much for sure: officer Goudie did not terminate or interfere with the investigation of this incident. Period.”

Clewley also stressed that the court did not find as fact that Sheikh lost consciousness following the assault.

According to the court document, Sheikh was taken to a hospital, where he refused assessment and voluntarily left before he saw a doctor. The Crown prosecutor was unable to prove Goudie’s use of force caused Sheikh any bodily harm, according to the court document.

Sheikh claimed that he had no memory of the incident. Sheikh’s complaint generated an investigation by the Toronto police Criminal Investigations Bureau. Two weeks later, Toronto Community Housing informed police about the contents of its surveillance footage of the incident, according to the police board document.

The SIU was contacted the following day and took over the investigation. Goudie was suspended the same day.

The sergeant’s professional misconduct hearing continues. Wendy Gillis can be reached at wgillis@thestar.ca