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Vancouver police sergeant charged with assault with a weapon

Quote:

VANCOUVER - A senior Vancouver police officer has been charged with assault with a weapon after responding to a 911 call in the 2200-block of west Broadway at 2:15 a.m. last Aug. 23.

The Crown approved a single count against Sgt. Darcy Taylor, who is in his mid 40s and has been a Vancouver officer for 20 years.

He allegedly pushed a man in the chest with a police baton after responding to a 911 call about a fight in progress. During the incident, Taylor called for "Code 3 emergency cover" and more officers arrived on the scene to assist.

Insp. Mario Giardini, the officer in charge of the VPD professional standards section, said the regional Crown approved the criminal charge against the officer.

"This is very, very rare, this happens so infrequently," he told reporters during a news conference Monday.

"It's tough for everybody in the department."

Giardini said the role of a police officer contains many risks, some of which are avoidable. He said the Vancouver police professional standards section launched its own investigation into the incident after the alleged victim - a man in his 20s not known to police - filed a formal complaint last Sept. 21 with the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner, alleging that Sgt. Taylor struck him in the chest with a police baton, knocking him to the ground with no apparent injury.

Investigators concluded there were reasonable and probable grounds to believe a criminal offence had been committed, and Crown counsel concurred and approved a charge, he said.

Taylor is scheduled to appear on Jan. 14 in Vancouver provincial court.

Giardini said Taylor has been placed on non-operational duties and is facing an internal investigation into his handling of the incident.

nhall@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

a cop shouldnt have to 2nd guess his actions in a life or death situation like that.

no apparent injury to the complainant...wut??

Wow I thought it was going to be a more serious assault with him being off duty. I guess the guy got shoved down and bitched about it? Then again, I need to know more about the story before I formulate an oppinion

from the information provided, thats kinda dumb. however, internal investigators "concluded there were reasonable and probable grounds to believe a criminal offence had been committed" ?! maybe there is info missing

All I gathered from that article was that a a VPD officer struck a guy on the chest in the course of breaking up an altercation in progress.

Did I miss something?

u missed that the guy he struck was just a bystander

Article is kinda vague, not enough details on the incident to figure out what exactly happened. So there's a fight and a lone officer shows up to break it up and I gather this guy was in the way of the officer or was in a position where he appeared to be a threat.

There's a video. The cop smacked a guy while he was texting on his cell phone and it wasn't even close to a life or death situation. In fact, as far as I could see there was no fight going on at the moment.

As with automatic cop bashers, there are automatic cop defenders.

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - The man who claims he was assaulted by a Vancouver Police officer outside a West Broadway pub in August has a much different story of how the incident happened. His lawyer claims there is security videotape which shows his client had not been involved in a fight before he was hit with a baton.

Vancouver Police say Sgt. Darcy Taylor had been responding to a 911 call about a fight after 2:00a.m. August 23rd, but the victim's lawyer indicates the tape shows there had been no fight outside the Regal Beagle. Jason Tarnow explains the crowd of people had been leaving the bar peacefully. Tarnow says his client had been texting across the street, looking for a ride home when the officer sped up in his cruiser and began hitting people in the back of the legs, trying to get them to move on, "This officer bullrushes my client and cross-checks him in the chin, taking my client right off his feet onto his back. The officer then swings at another gentleman who is unlocking his bicycle and this gentleman has to raise his bicycle and use it as a shield."

Sgt. Taylor has been charged with assault with a weapon. Tarnow believes his client is considering civil action.

That second article shows a little more insight into what exactly the fuck the officer was doing. I don't get why he'd have to use a baton.. He could've just told people to move along. Stupid dumbfuck. If he gets sued, he had it coming.

Quote:

Former bar manager Sarah Penman says a run-in between a Vancouver police sergeant and a customer outside the Regal Beagle last summer was so distressful she had to quit her job.

The Province has obtained a copy of a surveillance videotape from the popular Kitsilano bar that documents an incident allegedly involving Sgt. Darcy Taylor, a 20-year member of the Vancouver Police Department, and an alleged victim.

Taylor was put on paid administrative duties after he was charged Monday with one count of assault with a weapon over the incident, which took place outside the Regal Beagle around 2:15 a.m. on Aug. 23.

“It was disgusting,” Penman said Wednesday. “I was shaking for hours.”

Penman said she quit the next day because of the incident, and now works at an upscale Gastown eatery.

Penman, who has worked in the hospitality industry for seven years, said the incident has shaken her faith in the police.

“I’ve never seen police act that way before,” she said. “I have faith in the police and the justice system, my dad’s a lawyer. The other cops who arrived were shocked, too.”

Penman said she was outside the bar, paying the bouncers their tips, and witnessed the incident from the beginning.

She said the sergeant drove his cruiser onto the sidewalk in front of another bar a short distance away and began “screaming through his [public address speaker] on the car.”

Although a VPD spokesman said Taylor was responding to a call of a fight in progress and called for backup from fellow officers, the video shows no such disturbance.

Penman said the victim, a 27-year-old Vancouver man named Justin, was using his cellphone when the sergeant knocked him down.

The video shows a police officer rushing from across Broadway toward a group of three people standing on the sidewalk.

The officer delivers a blow to the man’s chest and knocks him off his feet onto the sidewalk.

The man’s lawyer, Jason Tarnow, said his client suffered a bruised chin and smacked the back of his head on the sidewalk when he was sent flying.

“The cop was telling Justin, ‘What are you going to do now? Hit me. Hit me,’” said Penman.

Penman said she has been interviewed by police investigating the incident and expects to be called as a witness, if needed, by prosecutors.

“It’s the most surreal thing you’d ever see, like something you’d see in a movie,” she said.

Penman doesn’t feel the VPD have unfairly targeted the Regal Beagle, which has been operating for 12 years, or its customers.

“A lot of the cops come in [as patrons when off duty]. This is their watering hole,” said Penman.

“We know a couple of them by name, by no means has the VPD targeted [the Regal Beagle] in any way.

“During the Police and Fire Games, we put on a lot of [hospitality] nights for that,” she said.

Taylor has his first appearance scheduled for Jan. 14 in Vancouver Provincial Court.
© Copyright (c) The Province

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Vide...735/story.html

Wow I so did not hear about this! I know that cop pretty good to I talk to him a few times a week he's prob the nicest cop I know! (besides from my dad :p) this just does not sound like him at all!!!!
Posted via RS Mobile

Quote:

Originally Posted by HollyZ32 (Post 6758762)

Well there's always multiple sides of the story, I just want to know the final out come.:)

i think the security footage pretty much gives it 1 side to the story

Quote:

Originally Posted by StylinRed (Post 6759082)

i think the security footage pretty much gives it 1 side to the story

Yup, i redact my previous statement. The dude was just minding his own buisness when officer ran towards him and shoved him down. Minor injuries? yeah but it is clear assault, at least from what i gather from the video. who knows tho, could be another side to it.