A person holds a sign with a photo of Myles Gray, who died after a confrontation with several police officers in 2015, before the start of a coroner’s inquest into his death, in Burnaby, B.C., on April 17.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
The second day of the coroner’s inquest into Myles Gray’s death heard of the pepper spraying, baton blows, a nylon shackle and chokeholds that seven police used on him, according to the testimony of the first constable to respond that blistering afternoon in August, 2015.
Constable Hardeep Sahota, one of seven officers facing professional misconduct hearings for allegedly using unnecessary force in their attempted arrest, testified Tuesday afternoon that she and two colleagues followed an agitated Mr. Gray up a small path into a shaded yard. One officer commanded the shirtless 33-year-old to get down on the ground before pepper spraying him, at which point the officers began wrestling with him and striking his legs with their batons, she testified. They got one handcuff on one of his hands, but then he broke free, she said.
Constable Sahota said she was scared for her life grappling with the muscular Mr. Gray and a colleague inadvertently broke her right hand with his baton, which led her to leave the scene for an ambulance after backup arrived moments later – when at least five other constables were still “controlling the suspect.” Mr. Gray was not bleeding, being choked or restrained in handcuffs when she and another constable with a head injury walked down to the waiting ambulance, she said.
“I needed to seek medical attention because I had excruciating pain going up my elbow and there were officers there that could have dealt with the situation,” Constable Sahota testified.
The coroner’s inquest is probing the death of the Sechelt, B.C., business owner, who suffered a broken nose, eye socket, rib and voice box, as well as brain bleeding and a ruptured testicle. The five jurors must try to determine “how, when, where and by what means” Mr. Gray died, as well as to make recommendations on how to prevent similar deaths. Its other core aim is ensuring “public confidence that the circumstances surrounding the death of an individual will not be overlooked, concealed or ignored.”
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Constable Sahota said she could not recall receiving any specialized training on de-escalating a situation with a suspect or working with those suffering mental-health crises before she answered a public disturbance call from a South Vancouver man reporting Mr. Gray swearing at his mother and spraying her with a nearby garden hose.
The officer started her testimony with a disclaimer that she was mostly speaking from her memory of the events of nearly eight years ago, telling a lawyer in the hearing room that she keeps a daily notebook but has no notes from that day. She did begin crafting digital notes hours after Mr. Gray’s death, but took five months to upload this formal statement to the Vancouver Police Department’s internal database.
Constable Sahota and five other officers that responded that day are also facing professional misconduct hearings – and up to a month’s suspension without pay – for not taking detailed notes or not submitting them in a timely fashion. Four of Constable Sahota’s colleagues told an investigator with the provincial Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner that they received a directive from their union not to take notes about the incident. Experts told The Globe and Mail the alleged union meddling with the recording of notes, a core responsibility of good police work, is unusual and unsettling.
Provincial Crown prosecutors declined a recommendation from the B.C. Independent Investigations Office – which investigates deaths or serious injuries at the hands of police – to lay criminal charges against Constable Sahota and her fellow officers who responded that day. The Crown had announced that it was hamstrung by the “incomplete” and “inconsistent” accounts police had given investigators probing Mr. Gray’s death.
Earlier Tuesday, Muhammed Reza testified that he called police because he was scared for his safety and that of the people in his neighbourhood after hearing his mother’s screams and seeing Mr. Gray, who appeared to be intoxicated. His mother, Songul Reza, then told the inquest she was watering her garden when she felt someone tugging the hose away from her and turned to see Mr. Gray.
He sprayed her with the hose and made sexual remarks, telling her you’re “beautiful” and “you’re so hot,” she told the inquest through a Turkish-speaking interpreter.
On Monday, Mr. Gray’s younger sister testified that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in high school after being taken to the hospital by their father after a manic incident at their home. After that, she testified, he led a stable life, caring for family and friends while managing his mental health with prescriptions. Roughly two weeks before his death he had become stressed about the annual busy stretch for his business supplying evergreens and salal to florists in and around Vancouver and seemed slightly manic, she testified.
His family doctor also testified that he had been taking testosterone supplements and bodybuilding in the years leading up to his death.
A neighbour who gathered near the commotion of cruisers and ambulances that day testified Tuesday that Mr. Reza became crestfallen the moment they learned Mr. Gray had died.
“He actually said at the time he didn’t think he should have called [911] and that he was not happy that had happened; he felt guilty,” Harjeevan Bansal testified.
With a report from The Canadian Press