Video appears to show Hamilton officer charged with assault rough up resident
CBC
A man who was allegedly assaulted by a Hamilton police officer says he's lost trust in the police service because of the recent interaction.
"I don't trust the cops at all," Edgardo Pacheco, 53, told CBC Hamilton.
Police spokesperson Jackie Penman said in an email officers came to a home on March 8 to respond to what they said was a domestic mischief call. Pacheco says there had been a disagreement between a friend and his ex-partner, who lives at the home, over payment of a car part, prompting Pacheco to call police earlier in the day.
According to Ontario police watchdog the Special Investigations Unit, which later opened its own investigation, two officers showed up at Pacheco's home on the Mountain near Rymal Road East and Upper Sherman Avenue that day around 8 p.m.
The whole incident, about five to 10 minutes long, appears to have been caught on surveillance video, although the video has no sound.
The video was posted onto social media and CBC Hamilton has seen the same surveillance footage from Pacheco's home.
Hamilton Police Service also said in a press release a video posted on social media showed a "concerning" interaction between an officer and citizen. It wouldn't verify if the video Pacheco posted was the same one it was talking about.
Late last week however, the service charged Const. Michael Kowalchuk with assault after a criminal investigation.
Pacheco said he was explaining the situation to an officer at the front door, adding that the issue was between his friend and his ex-partner, when the situation began to escalate.
Pacheco's ex-partner was there when it happened, but declined to comment on the situation. A neighbour on the street said they saw what happened but also declined to speak to CBC Hamilton out of fear of reprisal from the police service, they said.
Pacheco said the officer began insulting him. In a news release, the SIU described it as a "heated verbal exchange." The surveillance video appears to show a male officer and Pacheco talking at the doorway, with another officer nearby.
WATCH: Officer appears to grab and shove resident
Pacheco said the situation reached a breaking point when the officer asked him to go inside the house.
"I said 'I'm not going in the house, you have no right to tell me to go in the house,'" Pacheco said.
Saskatoon resident Delynne Bortis knew her commute to work Tuesday morning would be particularly difficult.
WARNING: This story contains details of abuse and intimate partner violence:
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