Officers cleared in arrest where man’s ankle broken

Police officers in Tofino who tripped a man later found to have a broken ankle requiring surgery were justified in their use of force during the July 2020 arrest, according to the province’s police watchdog.

The Independent Investigations Office of B.C., which investigates police-involved incidents that result in death or serious harm, found the man’s ankle injury was likely caused by one of the officers, who kicked the outside of the man’s leg from behind to bring him to the ground as he ran from police. Hospital records indicated the man’s ankle was already injured before the altercation, but the injury was aggravated by the officer’s action.

The IIO determined the officers acted lawfully in trying to arrest the man, who witnesses described as intoxicated and violent. One person told officers when they arrived that the man had punched him. When the man ran from officers during the arrest, they were justified in using a manoeuvre known as a leg sweep to bring the man to the ground and restrain him, chief civilian director Ronald MacDonald wrote in the IIO report.

“The use of force was well within the range of reasonable options available to the officers; it is not made unreasonable simply because an unfortunate injury resulted,” he wrote.

The report stems from a July 11 incident, when several residents of a First Nation community near Tofino reported the man to police. One caller said he was “trying to beat up everyone out here.” Cellphone video provided to the IIO showed the man threatening and swinging his fists at people.

When an officer told the man he was under arrest, the man said he wouldn’t let police arrest him, according to one of the officers involved who provided his notes to the IIO, but declined an interview. The other officer did not provide any evidence to the IIO.

The man ran away, and was subsequently taken down by officers using the leg sweep.

He was taken to hospital, where he had surgery to repair his broken ankle.