No charges against Halifax police after man breaches court orders: SIRT

The Nova Scotia Police Department has ruled that Halifax regional police officers should not be charged after a man claimed he fractured his ribs during an arrest.

The Halifax Regional Police Department received a call early evening May 29 from an employee of a Halifax Regional Municipality hotel about an unwanted man at their facility.

According to a report by the Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT), staff described the unwanted man as in his early 30s, with a black eye and scratches on his arm.

Staff also told officers the man allegedly harassed guests and employees at the hotel and appeared to be acting “as if he was into something.”

“The caller indicated that the man wanted to go to a specific room occupied by a woman who had been placed there by a women’s shelter,” the SIRT report said.

According to SIRT, local police confirmed the man was under a court order to stay away from the hotel guest and arrested him for violating the court orders.

“Although the man offered slight resistance to officers, there was nothing out of the ordinary about bringing him back to the station,” the SIRT press release said.

SIRT says on the way to the police station, officers radioed that the man had chopped off the silent patrolman’s head.

Officers noticed a scrape on the man’s head and called EHS to investigate his injuries.

“The AP (person concerned) did not mention his head injury, but did tell EHS that he sustained a rib injury from being jumped by people he would not identify a few days earlier,” SIRT’s report said.

“A few hours later, the AP was taken from the cell to the hospital complaining of chest pains.

The next day, SIRT says, X-rays confirmed the man had a broken rib.

After an investigation, SIRT found that the man had stated on two separate occasions that evening that his rib injury occurred in a fight prior to his involvement with police officers.

Based on its findings, SIRT says no charges are warranted against officers involved in the man’s arrest.

“There is nothing to indicate that any officer used excessive force to arrest the AP that night and therefore no charges are warranted,” SIRT said.

SIRT’s full report is available online.