Tyler Russell shortly after being released from KGH following his arrest in May 2020. A Kelowna RCMP officer facing trial on an assault charge was unaware that officers are trained to only use force against a suspect “as a last resort.” Const. Siggy Pietrzak’s assault trial began last May and is taking much longer than originally planned. The charge stems from an on-duty incident on May 30, 2020 in which Pietrzak responded to a backup request by Const. Regan Donahue during a call about a suspicious drunk man in downtown Kelowna. Pietrzak arrived on the scene as Const. Donahue and Const. David Carter struggled to arrest Tyler Russell. Pietrzak ran at the three men and landed about eight punches to Russell’s head, landing several. Two bystanders recorded video of the incident. Russell was never charged in the incident. Pietrzak took the stand for his defense on Tuesday and cross-examination of Pietrzak by Crown prosecutor David Haney began on Wednesday. Hainey asked several questions about Pietrzak’s RCMP training, which he first completed in 2016 at age 42. Officers also receive annual refresher training. “You are also trained that force should only be used as a last resort, correct?” Haney asked. “As a last resort, I’m not directly familiar with it, no,” Pietrzak said. In response, Hainey read from RCMP training material: “‘The law and RCMP policy indicate that you should only use force as a last resort.’ So you’re trained to use violence only as a last resort?” “It certainly says that here, your honor,” replied Pietrzak. Hainey also noted that officers should not use force in retaliation. “Have you also learned that you cannot use violence in retaliation for something the suspect did?” Haney asked. “I’m not sure I understand that … if an issue hits you in the face, I would suggest that you have the right to use force.” During his struggle with police, Russell did not throw any punches of his own at the officers, and Const. Donahue testified earlier in the trial that he did not feel he had been assaulted by Russell. During testimony last June by the Crown’s use of force expert, Staff Sgt. Leonard McCoshen, said the multiple punches Pietrzak threw at Russell were inconsistent with RCMP training, suggesting they were “punitive blows” rather than distraction blows. In his own testimony, Pietrzak noted that any use of force “should never be personal, you should always try to remain as determined as possible.” Pietrzak objected to the Crown’s suggestion that his blows to Russell fell within the definition of “physical control – harsh” found in the RCMP’s Incident Management Intervention Model – the framework used by officers to assess and manage risk in meetings with the public. According to the manual, these types of strikes should generally be used when a subject exhibits “aggressive” behavior, but Pietrzak argued that his strikes were merely “distracting.” “I wasn’t swinging for the fences, it was short, quick distraction strikes,” Pietrzak said. Hainey noted that Pietrzak injured his hand during the arrest and had to leave his shift early to seek a hospital evaluation. Hainey said that suggested the punches he threw at Russell were fairly forceful, but Pietrzak was unwilling to admit that his hand injury came as a result of the punch to Russell’s face. Pietrzak also did not admit the wound Russell received above his left eye during the incident resulted from his punches, noting that the cut could have occurred when the three officers finally pushed Russell face first. in the gravel. Much of the trial focused on how Pietrzak’s actions matched his RCMP training, but Pietrzak testified Wednesday that the “human element” of the incident was missing during the trial. “There are a lot of technical issues that have been discussed, but all of that happened from the time the call was made … it was two minutes and the actual interaction with Mr. Russell was 10 to 14 seconds,” Pietrzak said. “From my perspective, I relied on what I was trained to do. I did what I thought was the best choice at the time… I’m not sure what else I could have done.” He noted that he had not been trained to carry a directed-energy weapon — a taser — at the time, but “made a conscious decision” after the incident to get the training so he could use one in the future. While Russell admitted in his own testimony in May that he had consumed a significant amount of alcohol and used cocaine on the day of the incident, he said he was not heavily intoxicated. While sitting in a truck in the parking lot when Const. Carter approached him first, said he was in the passenger seat and didn’t have the truck keys on him. He refused to give a breath sample to Const. Carter, which led to the attempted arrest. In an ongoing civil lawsuit filed by Russell against Pietrzak and the RCMP, Russell’s lawyer Michael Patterson said his client had “no obligation to comply with illegal demands” as “his keys were not in his possession or close to him and was not in breach of any criminal or statutory offences.” Const. Donahue and Carter testified that they never found the truck keys on Russell or in the truck The defense expert in the case is expected to continue his testimony on Thursday. Haney said he hoped all evidence in the case would be completed by the end of the day Thursday, with submissions closing on October 7.
