No formal complaints brought forward on aggressive, cursing Montreal officer
City actively debating police ethics after news of behaviour of police ‘ Const. No. 728’
MONTREAL — An arrest delivered with a string of profanity and an extended choke- hold has triggered a debate about police ethics in Montreal but it has not actually resulted in a formal complaint against the officer involved.
One of the people carted away told The Canadian Press on Friday that he hasn’t filed a complaint because he’s not convinced the police disciplinary system works.
Rudi Ochietti said the fact that Const. Stefanie Trudeau — best known as “No. 728” for her badge number — has continued to patrol after multiple past ethics complaints demonstrates a systemic problem within the police force and a culture of circling the wagons.
While he did not file a complaint, video of the Oct. 2 incident was sent to the media and it has caused a sensation. Trudeau was suspended Thursday pending an internal disciplinary investigation.
The footage shows a dispute that started with Ochietti drinking a beer in front of an apartment building spiralling quickly out of control, with four people arrested and twenty police cars called to the scene.
Cellphone recordings caught images of Ochietti’s arrest and that of another man, Serge Lavoie, who was dragged down the stairs in a choke- hold.
Audio later captured by a cell phone had a voice, identified as Trudeau’s, unleashing expletives and derogatory comments about artists, protesters, musicians and dwellers of a trendy Montreal neighbourhood.
Trudeau described the people on the scene as “rats,” among many other things, prompting an apology from police chief Marc Parent. Montreal police say they weren’t aware of the incident until the images and audio were broadcast on Wednesday night.
Ochietti, a Montreal artist, defended the group’s decision to go to the media and not file a complaint with the provincial police ethics board.
“We realized that if we filed an ethics complaint, nothing would have happened,” Ochietti said. “She would have continued to walk the beat in the city and beat up people.”
Records show that Trudeau has had cases before the ethics board on at least three occasions.
She was once suspended for six days for being aggressive towards an employee at a children’s hospital while investigating a 1996 case. In another case, Trudeau and another officer were cleared of any wrongdoing. In the third case, the case was dropped after the complainant left the country. Trudeau first gained fame after pepper- spray incident during
a Quebec’s springtime protests. She was shown aggressively pumping chemical irritants into a group of protesters.
Excerpts of that incident surfaced in a video that has since been viewed more than 500,000 times on YouTube. She was permanently removed from crowdcontrol units and is subject to an investigation over the incident.
In a separate incident that occurred the same day that the pepper- spray video was posted, a Buddhist- studies scholar alleges Trudeau uttered a racist slur and used unjustified force against him.
Julian Menezes, who lectures at McGill University, said he had a late- night run in with Trudeau on May 20, just hours before the pepperspray video was posted.
Menezes alleges that Trudeau tackled him to the ground, handcuffed him and wrestled him into a police cruiser for no reason.
He said he injured his ankle during the struggle. At the time, he said he had stopped to speak with a cyclist who was being a given a ticket by Trudeau and her partner.
While sitting in the back of the police car, he alleges that Trudeau sped up and slammed the brakes several times. He said he was thrown forward and his face smashed against the glass divider, bruising the bridge of his nose.
“You don’t even have the time to be scared in some ways because it’s so unbelievable,” he said.
“It’s really dangerous. She’s speeding through streets and back alleys in the city and putting a lot of citizens’ lives at risk.”
Menezes filed complaints a few months ago against Trudeau — and her partner that night — with both the human- rights and policeethics commissions. He is also claiming $ 30,000 in damages from the City of Montreal and the police force.
Neither case has been resolved, but Menezes said he has already lost his trust in the police.
“I think police should govern through mutual trust rather than intimidation and violence,” said Menezes, who was surprised that an officer facing so many complaints was still on the street.
“There clearly is a system of remaining silent on these matters and putting people, who clearly go off- book, back into the police force.”
Meanwhile, the criminal charges stand against the people involved in the beer- drinking incident that resulted in the chokehold and arrests.
As of Friday, Ochietti said he and three other people arrested that night still face charges including intimidating a police officer, assault and obstruction of justice.
Ochietti said Montreal police have not contacted the men about the 10- day- old incident.