Montreal's police ethics board has found two officers guilty of abusing their authority.
The ruling finds the officers violated their professional code of ethics when they arrested a black man who had parked his car in a restricted zone.
The original incident goes all the way back to March 30, 2012. According to a statement, the two accused officers Alain Chauvette and Jean Francois Lemay confronted the complainant Hando Wilkinson Andre on the corner of Mont Royal Ave. and St. Laurent Blvd. where he was illegally parked. The situation then escalated when one of the officers went to arrest Andre and collared him to the point that he spat out blood.
The officers also made slurs about Andre's Haitian background, acting surprised when he did a background check and found he had no priors, then saying “Those people always inverse their names,” according to the decision.
They also mocked Andre when he asked for an ambulance, saying he needed to be brought to a psychiatric hospital. He was treated for his injuries and later required surgery.
Andre was also given three tickets, for illegal parking, obstructing the work of a peace officer, and spitting. The board dismissed all those charges except for the parking ticket.
Another hearing will take place Nov. 24 to determine sanctions for the officers. In the meantime, Chauvette and Lemay have 30 days to appeal the ruling.
The SPVM is not commenting on the case.
