2nd Toronto cop pleads guilty for unlawful arrest of Black U of T student mistaken for suspect, repeatedly stunned
CTV
A second cop has pleaded guilty in the case of a young Black man who was detained, Tasered, and had a knee placed on his neck after Toronto police officers mistook him for a suspect in a 2021 robbery investigation.
A second cop has pleaded guilty in the case of a young Black man who was detained, Tasered, and had a knee placed on his neck after Toronto police officers mistook him for a suspect in a 2021 robbery investigation.
On Tuesday, Sgt. Rachel Saliba of the Toronto Police Service (TPS) pleaded guilty to a misconduct charge of unlawful or unnecessary use of authority at a disciplinary tribunal hearing in relation to the detention of Hasani O’Gilvie, a University of Toronto student who was on his way to an exam on Aug. 21, 2021, when officers stopped him and unlawfully detained him.
According to an Agreed Statement of Facts read out at the Tuesday hearing, the incident unfolded after Toronto police were called to a parking lot in North York for an alleged robbery at around 4 p.m. The robbery suspect was alleged to have just stolen a cellphone from an elderly woman, it said.
The statement acknowledges that O'Gilvie did bear a resemblance to the description provided but it points out that Saliba was also given a photograph for reference, as the suspect was out on bail for another offence at the time.
The call was also attended by Const. Jilliane Baquiran and Const. Seth Rietkoetter. When Rietkoetter arrived on scene, he located Saliba, Baquiran, and O'Gilvie, who appeared to match the description of the suspect, facing a wall, the statement reads.
“Approximately 17 seconds into the interaction, Sgt. Saliba took the complainant to the ground and attempted to handcuff him,” the tribunal heard.
Body-worn camera footage that captured the incident shows the complainant during the arrest. He was not punching, kicking, flailing his arms, or demonstrating assaultive behaviour, the statement reads.
