Kelowna RCMP say one of their officers - who already faces possible assault charges after a man was kicked in the face while being arrested - could be charged in connection with a separate incident in which a man was repeatedly punched after being misidentified as a boat thief.
Constable Geoff Mantler is already waiting to hear whether he will be charged with assaulting Buddy Tavares in connection with a videotaped incident. And now the RCMP has recommended charges after completing an investigation into a separate incident allegedly involving the embattled cop.
"The findings of our investigation have been forwarded to Crown counsel for review," RCMP spokesman Sergeant Rob Vermeulen said. "Obviously, there's a potential for charges."
The investigation was the result of a complaint filed in November by Jeremy Packer about an alleged incident last August. Mr. Packer could not be reached for comment on Tuesday, but in January, he told The Globe and Mail he was repossessing a boat for non-payment when police pulled him over on suspicion of stealing it.
Mr. Packer said police forced him out of his truck at gun point. He alleged that even though he was not resisting, an officer punched him several times.
Mr. Packer's complaint was already more than two months old when Constable Mantler was suspended with pay after the widely seen video of an officer kicking Mr. Tavares in the head during his arrest on Jan. 7.
Sgt. Vermeulen said he didn't know why it took so long to complete the investigation into Mr. Packer's complaint. But in general, "investigations take as long as they take," he said.
"Obviously you've got to cover all the bases," he added. "So that means speaking to people, it can mean looking for potential witnesses and tracking them down. It takes as long as it takes to gather all the information necessary."
The Abbotsford Police Department investigated Mr. Tavares's case. On Jan. 16, just nine days after the incident and with protesters gathering at a rally in Kelowna, investigators announced they were recommending Constable Mantler be charged with assault causing bodily harm.
Crown prosecutors have yet to decide whether to proceed with those charges.
A professional standards officer with the Kelowna RCMP handled the investigation into Mr. Packer's complaint. Sgt. Vermeulen said only cases involving death or serious injury are referred to an outside police force.
"This one didn't meet the threshold for referral to another police force," he added.
The differing responses demonstrate why the RCMP should not be investigating its own officers, said David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. "If you look at this series of events, one more time it illustrates why we need civilians doing these investigations, not the RCMP."
Mr. Eby also questioned whether the RCMP would have acted on Mr. Packer's complaint had the video of Mr. Tavares not surfaced.
"One of the things we see is a pattern here, that unless there is video, the complaint doesn't go anywhere," he said.