Dennis Ward
APTN National News
The family of an Alberta man says they have video evidence of their loved one allegedly being brutally beaten by RCMP.
Trent Angus, 27, from Lloydminster, Alta., was a wanted man at the time with a long history with police.
But his cousin, Darryl Angus, said that is no reason for the treatment he received during his arrest.
Lloydminster RCMP Inspector Suki Manj said Angus was wanted on outstanding warrants.
When police attempted to approach him, Manj said Angus tried to escape by driving a stolen vehicle into a police car.
Manj said Angus then backed into a fence, fled on foot and broke into a nearby residence.
Additional police resources were called in and a K-9 unit was engaged. RCMP officers then found Angus at another residence where the arrest was conducted.
The residence where the arrest was conducted was equipped with a home security system. The video it recorded of the arrest is now in the possession of police and the Angus family.
Darryl Angus said watching the video was “traumatizing.” He said it showed his cousin “getting into the fetal position as a dog starts ripping him up. He said his cousin was then tasered and beaten up.
The family admits Trent Angus had an extensive criminal record and was a known drug dealer.
However, they believe excessive force was used and should not have been.
Manj said officers take into account a suspect’s history and risk to the public among other things when determining the level of force to use.
Manj said pictures don’t always tell the story and that sometimes it looks worse than it is.
Manj said Angus was arrested in February, resisted arrest and had a loaded weapon on him at the time of that arrest.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) investigates incidents involving Alberta’s police that have resulted in serious injury or death to any person, as well as serious or sensitive allegations of police misconduct.
An ASIRT spokesperson confirms the Director of Law Enforcement has directed them to review this investigation.
All of the officers involved in the arrest remain on active duty.
Manj said he’s confident the system in place will show what happened and if mistakes were made they will be corrected and dealt with.
The Angus family say they plan to release the surveillance video to the public once they hire a lawyer to look into the incident.
