Officer charged in pepper spray case
‘Obvious police brutality’ cited in court with laying of misconduct charges
A Toronto police officer who was captured on video pepperspraying a man handcuffed in the back seat of a police car has been charged with professional misconduct.
An Ontario judge called the 2016 incident “obvious police brutality.”
Const. Matthew Brewer is also facing misconduct charges in a recent unrelated incident, in which he’s alleged to have used “profane, abusive or insulting language” with a senior officer.
He’s also alleged to have yelled “abusive, threatening” things at a woman inside a Whitby gym before throwing her belongings against a wall and kicking over a garbage can on the way out.
Brewer’s case — consisting of four misconduct charges, in- cluding using unnecessary force against a prisoner — was briefly heard at the Toronto police tribunal Tuesday.
No hearing date has been set. The officer has not entered a plea.
Brewer, who is currently on administrative duties, was recently found guilty of discreditable conduct stemming from a 2016 incident in Durham Region in which he brought a handgun into the bedroom where his spouse was sleeping and then followed her through the home holding the gun.
According to a summary of the incident in a court ruling, Brewer put the gun in his mouth before going outside and firing it into the air.
Court heard Brewer was at the time suffering from depression, alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder.
In his November 2018 written disciplinary decision, the hearing officer said Brewer’s actions constituted “serious miscon- duct” but noted that extensive medical documentation outlining his PTSD provided insight into his actions.
The hearing officer docked Brewer five days pay,
The incident “involved the actions of a good man who was experiencing an acute and severe mental health crisis,” wrote Toronto police Insp. Peter Callaghan. Brewer was also charged criminally and given a suspended sentence and two years probation after pleading guilty to unauthorized possession of a firearm and common nuisance.
On Tuesday, the Toronto Sun published an article quoting an anonymous Toronto police officer accusing Brewer of using his PTSD to justify bad behaviour and urging the Toronto police to fire him.
David Butt, Brewer’s lawyer, told the Star Wednesday that the sentiment “demonstrates a deeply troubling, outdated, and discriminatory attitude toward those who through no fault of their own encounter mental health challenges.”
“This sort of outdated and discriminatory thinking is highly destructive because it silences those suffering from mental health challenges at a time when everyone truly informed about the serious problem of first responders and PTSD is encouraging those suffering to speak up, and seek help,” Butt said.
Last year, Ontario Court Justice Richard Blouin stayed four charges against Toronto man Tyrone Hines after an in-car camera captured “disturbing” footage of what the judge called excessive force during a September 2016 arrest.
The video captured Hines screaming out in pain and asking for help after Brewer pepper-sprayed him shortly after arresting him following a latenight fight.
Before he pepper-sprayed him, Brewer can be heard on the video telling Hines, who was handcuffed in the back seat, to stop “kicking the f---ing door.”
He can then be heard telling Hines to “get his f---ing feet” in the car. He then says: “Get your pepper-spray, guys,” and sprays Hines, who cries in pain.
“Please, please, I’m begging you guys,” Hines can be heard saying in the video as police record him during the drive to the police station. “This hurts really bad.”
Brewer claimed he peppersprayed Hines to stop him from escaping, an explanation Blouin called “demonstrably false.”
“Surprisingly, two police officers made disturbing attempts under oath to justify or explain obvious police brutality that was exhibited toward Hines after he was ... contained in that back seat,” Blouin said in a written decision released last year.
None of the allegations have been proven at the tribunal.