Victoria –
Two RCMP officers have been charged with manslaughter in the 2017 death of an Indigenous person in Prince George, British Columbia, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The BC Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement Wednesday that Constables Paul Saint-Marie and Jean-François Monet have been charged with manslaughter.
Sergeant John Eusebio Cruz and constables Arthur Dallmann and Clarence Macdonald are accused of attempting to obstruct justice.
Arrested in Prince George on July 18, 2017, 35-year-old Dale Culver is an Indigenous person from the Guitzan and Wetsweten Nations.
According to an RCMP release at the time, police received a report about a man bugging a car and found a suspect who tried to escape on a bicycle.
BC’s police oversight agency, the Independent Investigative Service, investigated the death and sent a recommendation for prosecution to the Attorney General’s Office in May 2020.
According to reports from the Bureau of Investigation, when police tried to detain the man, there was a struggle, other officers were called in, and pepper spray was used. appeared to be having trouble breathing, the report said.
After Culver’s death, the BC Civil Liberties Association said it was aware of eyewitness reports that Culver was “forcibly knocked to the ground by members of the RCMP immediately after leaving the liquor store.”
The association said it had “troubling allegations” that members of the RCMP had told witnesses to delete the video they had taken with their mobile phones.
“This will provide strong grounds for questioning the accuracy of certain RCMP member statements and memos to investigators, as well as the RCMP’s official statements,” said the association’s 2018 Civil Review and Complaints Commission. I am writing to the chairman of the board. RCMP.
The prosecutor’s office said the charges were approved by an experienced criminal attorney with no previous or current relationship with the officer.
This report by the Canadian Press was first published on February 1, 2023.
