When Frank Collins heard the cries for help he took out his phone and started recording.
“One person started yelling, ‘Please help, please help. Somebody help me,'” Collins told APTN News Friday. “He was quite vocal with that.
“As I walked up to the fence, I could see what was happening. There was a police officer arresting somebody.”
Collins and his family were getting ready to go on a bike ride on a sunny July 4 afternoon. Instead he kept filming what turned out to be the violent arrest of Cree man Evan Penner.
The arresting officer has since been placed on leave and an investigation ordered into what happened. Penner, 27, remains free on bail after being charged with multiple offences stemming from a complaint of a suspicious person in the neighbourhood.
READ MORE: Saskatoon police officer on leave following arrest video
Collins said he didn’t think twice about filming the arrest.
“We all have to hold each other accountable in situations like this where police or individuals might be doing something that is unnecessary,” he said in an interview.
Collins said the level of force he saw used against an unarmed man seemed extreme.
